Santa Rosa Tree Removal, Trimming & Arborist Services

Santa Rosa tree permits: heritage and protected trees

Chapter 17-24 of the Santa Rosa City Code covers heritage trees, protected trees, and street trees. Thresholds are set by species and measured as trunk circumference, so a tree that looks modest can still be covered. Under the chapter's size table:

• Valley oak and blue oak qualify at 19 inches in circumference, which is only about 6 inches across.
• Coast live oak, black oak, and other oaks qualify at 57 inches in circumference.
• Madrone qualifies at 38 inches in circumference.

Other species are on the list too, and street trees in the public planting strip have their own rules. Permit applications can include a certified arborist's recommendations, and a clear report on the tree's health, structure, and risk helps the city make a decision. See arborist reports and tree permits for what that report covers. No one can promise a permit will be approved, so check with the city before any large oak comes down.

Fountaingrove, Oakmont, Skyhawk & Bennett Valley: the WUI fire area

Santa Rosa's Chapter 9-32, adopted in December 2023, requires defensible space on parcels in the city's Wildland Urban Interface Fire Area, which takes in hillside neighborhoods such as Fountaingrove, Oakmont, Skyhawk, and parts of Bennett Valley. It goes further than most local rules on trees:

• Trees dead or dying from wildfire, as determined by the fire department, must be removed if they are within 100 feet of a structure, within 30 feet of a property line or public right-of-way, or tall enough on a slope to fall into a right-of-way.
• Scotch broom, French broom, and bay, or other species the Fire Chief designates, must be removed in those same zones.
• Trees must be kept at least 10 feet from any chimney opening, and limbs over a structure kept free of deadwood and loose bark.
• Mature trees should be limbed up to 10 feet above the ground; smaller trees to a third of their height.

Removing a bay tree for fire safety is still tree work: it involves felling, rigging near the house, and chipping. That is the bulk of defensible space and fire clearance in the Santa Rosa hills. If you are not sure whether your parcel is in the WUI fire area, the city's fire department can tell you.

Rebuilt neighborhoods and older trees

The 2017 Tubbs Fire burned through Fountaingrove and Coffey Park, and much of both neighborhoods has been rebuilt since. On rebuilt lots the issue is often trees that survived the fire but were scorched or root-damaged, and have been declining slowly ever since. A burned oak can look alive for years while decay works through the trunk. If you have a survivor tree near a rebuilt house, a tree risk assessment is worth the cost before it fails on its own schedule.

In the older parts of town, such as the Junior College area, Montgomery Village, and the neighborhoods around McDonald Avenue, the trees are big, mature street and yard trees. Common jobs are removing a tree that has lifted a driveway or sewer lateral, thinning a heavy canopy, and getting limbs off the roof. Tight side yards and overhead lines mean many of these removals are done in sections or with a crane.

Storm season in Santa Rosa

Winter storms that saturate the soil and then bring wind are when Santa Rosa loses trees. Valley oaks with root decay, eucalyptus windbreaks on the edges of town, and tall pines all go over in those conditions. If a tree or large limb is down on the house, the fence, or the driveway, storm-damaged and fallen tree removal starts with making the site safe, then cutting and hauling. If PG&E lines are involved, call PG&E first and stay clear; a tree contractor should not touch a tree in contact with a line.