The City is committed to protecting, planting, and caring for trees within the public right of way. The City does not maintain or remove trees that are located on property that is not owned or controlled by the City and does not remove a Public Tree unless it poses a public safety hazard, is otherwise in poor or declining health, or creates infrastructure damage that cannot effectively be remedied without tree removal.

Requests for Public Tree removal may be made to Public Works Maintenance Department and will be assessed and prioritized by the tree program manager based on the following criteria: overall tree health, the tree's environmental value, potential infrastructure conflicts and/or circumstances such as conflicts with planned construction, as well as available City resources.

The City may retain and maintain certain trees that are in fair to poor condition until such time as the tree is prioritized for removal. Otherwise healthy trees may be removed if they pose a conflict with a City construction project, or if the tree's roots cannot be safely pruned to remove sidewalk obstructions.

The City may grant a permit for the private funding and/or removal of a Street Tree after review and approval by the tree program manager. Approval will require an Encroachment Permit, and will include required conditions for removal, tree replacement, irrigating and weeding requirements, and/or additional measures.

A Tree is typically removed and replaced when:

• it is dead, dying, or diseased
• it creates an infrastructure conflict that cannot otherwise be effectively mitigated
• it is a safety hazard due to its overall health or structural condition

To report a dead, diseased, or hazardous tree within the public right of way, please contact the Maintenance Division at (510) 215-4369.