Valley Oak tree
About the Project

The Department has prepared an update to the County’s Tree Removal Regulations to improve management of individual trees and tree canopy in the County, and to improve the tree removal and trimming permit process, consistent with the County’s General Plan. The draft ordinance was made available for review and comment on June 23, 2024. The Department made presentations to the Planning Commission (July 10), the Midcoast Community Council (July 24), and the North Fair Oaks Community Council (July 25). The County received extensive public comments between June 23 and August 23, 2024. Below is a summary of the County’s responses, and you can view a PDF of the full list of comments. The Board of Supervisors adopted the Protected Tree Ordinance on October 22, 2024.

The County submitted the Ordinance to the Coastal Commission for consistency review and certification in February 2025. The Coastal Commission considered the County’s amendments on August 12, 2026, and conditionally certified the amendments, with several minor modifications that include:

  • Adding and clarifying definitions to cross reference and be consistent with other relevant County zoning and development codes for clarity of application. 
  • Clarifying the new ordinance to identify when a Coastal Development Permit is or may be required.
  • Clarifying the process for emergency protected tree removals.
  • Updating one LCP policy to ensure consistency between the new ordinance and the LCP. 

The Commission’s resolution of certification and findings report which include the recommended changes to the ordinance is available here:

summary of the County’s responses

The new ordinance can be accessed here – Protected Tree Ordinance

A companion guidance website (SanMateoCountyTrees.org) has also been launched to provide more information to the County’s residents about the value of trees, and outline the permit process steps, among other useful information.

Contact

For questions or comments about this project, please contact Bharat Singh.

Meetings

November 28, 2018 | View Meeting Documents

September 26, 2018 | View Meeting Documents

April 30, 2018 | View Meeting Documents

July 28, 2018 | Summary of Major Findings

May 25, 2017 | View Meeting Documents

March 23, 2017 | View Meeting Documents

January 26, 2017 | View Meeting Documents

November 17, 2016 | View Meeting Documents

September 29, 2016 | View Meeting Documents