Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Across most of Anaheim there is no private-property tree removal permit. The rule only bites if your property is inside the Scenic Corridor (SC) Overlay Zone — roughly the Santa Ana Canyon area east of the SR-55 and SR-91 interchange — and the tree is a "Specimen Tree," meaning an Oak with a trunk 25 inches or more in circumference, or a Pepper or Sycamore with trunks 50 inches or more, measured four feet above the ground. Separately, street trees anywhere in the city cannot be cut, trimmed, pruned or removed without written permission from the Director of Community Services.
Size threshold
Anaheim Municipal Code Sec. 18.18.040.010.0101: "'Specimen Tree' shall mean any tree of the Quercus varieties (Oak) with a trunk measuring twenty-five (25) inches or greater in circumference; or any tree of the Schinus varieties (Pepper) and Platanus varieties (Sycamore), with trunks measuring fifty (50) inches or greater in circumference; measurements of circumference shall be taken at a point four (4) feet above ground level."
What's protected in Anaheim
- Quercus varieties (Oak) with a trunk 25 inches or greater in circumference, inside the SC Overlay Zone
- Schinus varieties (Pepper) with trunks 50 inches or greater in circumference, inside the SC Overlay Zone
- Platanus varieties (Sycamore) with trunks 50 inches or greater in circumference, inside the SC Overlay Zone
- Street trees citywide — written permission required from the Director of Community Services (AMC 13.12.080)
How to apply in Anaheim
- 1
Work out which track you are on. An Administrative Specimen Tree Removal Permit is available where a report from the City Arborist or an ISA-certified arborist authorized to do business in Anaheim shows the tree is dead; is diseased and a present danger to healthy trees nearby; is so weakened by age, disease, storm, fire, excavation, removal of adjacent trees or injury as to cause imminent danger to persons or property; presents a present danger of falling onto existing or proposed structures or utility lines; has caused structural damage to a single-family residence or its required driveway; or is being removed under a lawful Fire Department order. Anything else goes straight to the Planning Commission as a Discretionary permit.
- 2
File form Z205, Specimen Tree Removal Permit, with the Planning Services Division and pay the filing fee.
- 3
Attach the required materials from the form's checklist: a site plan showing the location of the trees to be removed and the replacement trees, photographs of the trees to be removed, a list of replacement trees, and two copies of the certified arborist report. The application is routed to Urban Forestry.
- 4
Plan for replacement trees, which must be a minimum 36-inch box at planting, or 24-inch box if the City Arborist approves. Table 18-A sets the count by circumference of the tree destroyed measured four feet above ground: under 38 inches, 1 replacement; 38 to 64 inches, 2; over 64 inches, 3. Species must come from the code's Table 18-B for private properties or Table 18-C for slopes.
- 5
Wait out the appeal period. No permit approved by the Planning and Building Director issues before the appeal period expires. Discretionary permits are valid one year from issuance.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- City of Anaheim Planning Services Division fee schedule (form Z677, effective August 2025): "Specimen Tree Removal Permit (Administrative) 1-2 Trees $116 /ea; 3-5 Trees $329 /ea; 6+ Trees (base plus each additional) $329+$25 /ea." A "Specimen Tree Removal Review by Planning Commission" is $5,343 each, subject to a 20% flat fee for each secondary case if multiple cases are filed concurrently, and possibly a $2,184 resubmittal flat fee for multiple revisions.
- Penalties
- AMC Sec. 18.18.040.100: "It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to violate the provisions of this section." Under AMC Sec. 1.01.370 a misdemeanor is punishable "by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the City or County Jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment," and each day of violation is a separate offense. Removing first is expensive: AMC Sec. 18.18.040.030 provides that "Any Specimen Trees that are removed before a report is reviewed and approved by the City must obtain a Discretionary Specimen Tree Removal Permit," which is the $5,343 Planning Commission track.
- Ordinance
- Anaheim Municipal Code Title 18 (Zoning), Chapter 18.18 (Scenic Corridor (SC) Overlay Zone), Sec. 18.18.040 — Tree Preservation (Ord. 5920; Ord. 6245; Ord. 6448; Ord. 6620, January 13, 2026). The SC Overlay boundary is set by AMC Sec. 18.18.020. Street trees: AMC Title 13 (Parks and Boulevards), Chapter 13.12 — Street Trees, Sec. 13.12.080.
Worth knowing
- "Destroy" is defined broadly enough that heavy trimming triggers the permit: AMC 18.18.040.010.0102 includes "cutting down, removing, trimming, topping or pruning any Specimen Tree to a height that may do damage to a particular variety of tree as determined by a City Arborist."
- There is a real exemption for landscape-planted specimens. AMC 18.18.040.035: "Specimen Trees planted by the current or previous homeowner as part of an original landscape plan, and are not located in an area visible from a public or private right-of-way and/or in a commonly viewed and maintained slope, are exempt from the requirements for a Specimen Tree Removal Permit."
- The SC Overlay Zone is defined as the area east of the SR-55 and SR-91 interchange, west of the Orange County line, south of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way, and north of the city's south limits, excluding properties in the Anaheim Canyon Specific Plan (SP2015-01) Zone.
- AMC Sec. 18.18.040.090 separately makes it unlawful to injure a Specimen Tree by paving or filling around it, piling material, pouring deleterious matter, fastening hardware, electricity contact, fire, or topping and pruning to the point of injury.
- The city states plainly that "Anaheim maintains trees in public spaces. Maintenance of trees on private property, including in yards around homes and in and around businesses, are the responsibility of owners."
- For street trees, AMC 13.12.080.020: "No person shall cut, trim, prune, plant, remove, spray, or in any other manner interfere with any street tree within the City of Anaheim without first having secured written permission from the Director of Community Services or his or her designee." A violator must remove and replace the tree within 30 days of written notice at their own cost, and the city can do the work and recover its costs as a debt. Street tree maintenance: Public Works Operations, 714-765-6860, 400 E Vermont Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92805.
What we could not confirm
We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.
- — A public email address for Anaheim Planning Services or Public Works Operations.
- — Whether any Anaheim historic district (Anaheim Colony, Five Points, Historic Palm, Hoskins) imposes separate tree removal rules. The city's Historic Districts page contained no tree content and we did not read the district preservation plans.
- — Whether AMC Chapter 18.46 (Landscape and Screening) independently requires a permit to remove non-specimen landscaping trees.
- — Whether a separate Community Services street-tree permission form or online application exists, and what it costs.
- — Processing time for a Specimen Tree Removal Permit.
- — Whether tree removal inside the Anaheim Canyon Specific Plan area, which is carved out of the SC Overlay, is governed by a different specific-plan provision.
Sources
- Anaheim Municipal Code Sec. 18.18.040 — Tree Preservation
- Anaheim Municipal Code Sec. 18.18.020 — Delineation of (SC) Overlay Zone Boundaries
- City of Anaheim form Z205 — Specimen Tree Removal Permit (Planning Services Division)
- City of Anaheim Planning Services Division fee schedule (form Z677, effective August 2025)
- Anaheim Municipal Code Sec. 13.12.080 — Interference with Street Trees, Permission Required
- City of Anaheim — Street Tree Maintenance