This morning I heard a talk by a landscape architect and he discussed tree protection. Later an architect friend made a comment to me, “It’s your tree until you put it in the ground”.

When people purchase a home they will look at the room count and room sizes and think about how and where the furniture will fit. Then they may look at the back yard and think, “we could put a pool there or a gas BBQ pit there.” Not so fast. If there are trees, especially large trees or trees of different varieties there could be all kinds of tree laws that prevent the removal of a tree or the cost factor could be prohibitive.

Here are some of the tree comments from the Santa Clara County rules.

The County of Santa Clara recognizes the significant value of its tree population.  Trees provide aesthetic and scenic beauty, prevent erosion of topsoil, protect against flood hazards and the risk of landslides, counteract air pollution, and can be valuable historical and community assets.  They provide wind protection, shade, climatic balance, privacy, and wildlife habitat.  In addition, studies have demonstrated that trees increase property values.

When is a tree removal permit required from the County?

A protected tree on any private or public property shall consist of any of the following:

•     Any tree having a main trunk or stem measuring 37.7 inches or greater in circumference (12 inches or more in diameter) at a height of four and one-half feet above ground level, or in the case of multi-trunk trees a total of 75.4 inches in circumference (24 inches or more of the diameter) of all trunks in the following areas of the county:
  parcels zoned “Hillsides” (3 acres or less)
  parcels within a “-d” (Design Review) combining zoning district
  parcels within the Los Gatos Specific Plan area.
•     Any tree having a main trunk or stem measuring 18.8″ or greater in circumference (6″ or more in diameter) at a height of 4.5′ above ground level, or in the case of multi-trunk trees, a total of 37.7″ in circumference of all trunks (12″ or more of the diameter) in the “h1 ” New Almaden Historic Preservation zoning district.
•     Any heritage tree, as that term is defined in §C16-2 of the Tree Preservation Ordinance.
•     Any tree required to be planted as a replacement for an unlawfully removed tree, pursuant to §C16-17(e) of the Tree Preservation Ordinance.
•     Any tree that was required to be planted or retained by the conditions of approval for any use permit, building site approval, grading permit, architectural & site approval (ASA), design review, special permit or subdivision.
•     On any property owned or leased by the County of Santa Clara, any tree which measures over 37.7 inches in circumference (12 inches or more in diameter) measured 4.5 feet above the ground, or which exceeds 20 feet in height.
•     Any tree, regardless of size, within road rights-of-way and easements of the County, whether within or without the unincorporated territory of the county.

The San Jose rules are here – http://www.ourcityforest.org/documents/pdf/SJregs_private.pdf

If you are buying a property and that property has a lot of trees — don’t make any assumptions and make sure to do your “Tree Homework”