Views, Trees and Hedges in Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach runs separate processes for blocked views, hedges and tree removal. This guide says what the city’s pages and the municipal code state. It is not legal advice. Planning answers questions at (949) 497-0713.

Which process applies

The city’s own FAQ sorts the questions this way:

• Trees that block a view: a View Restoration claim under Chapter 12.16.
• Hedges that block a view, block sunlight or create a safety problem: a hedge height claim under Chapter 12.14.
• A Heritage Tree, a tree on an approved landscape plan or a privately maintained tree in the public right-of-way: a tree removal permit under Chapter 12.06 or Chapter 12.08.
• A branch that hangs over your yard: a civil matter with no city ordinance.

The FAQ also says a parcel with no approved landscape plan, no design review conditions on landscaping and no hedge ruling has no height or plant-type limit. A parcel with an approved landscape plan carries the plant conditions and any height limits in that plan. A parcel with a hedge ruling carries the height set in the ruling.

View Restoration claims

A property owner can ask to restore a pre-existing view that vegetation has impaired. The code limits claims to vegetation that is six feet or taller and within 500 feet of the claimant’s property boundary. The steps:

1. Talk to the vegetation owner. The code calls for an informal, cooperative discussion first.
2. File a notice of intent. It includes photographs of the vegetation and the view you want restored. The city mails it to the vegetation owner and invites them to a mediation meeting.
3. Mediate. The mediator cannot issue binding orders. Any agreement is a private agreement between you and the owner. The claimant pays the mediator unless the parties agree otherwise.
4. File a claim. If the owner does not respond or mediation fails, you may file. You carry the burden of proof.
5. Public hearing. Each committee member visits the site, and the View Restoration Committee hears the claim at a noticed hearing.

The city requires photographs that show the view that existed on or after the earlier of your date of purchase or November 4, 2003. It does not accept photos from real estate websites or enhanced or altered photos, and it does not consider views from hallways, closets, mechanical rooms, bathrooms or garages.

The committee weighs criteria in the code, including where the obstruction sits in the view frame, the quality of the view, whether the vegetation has become overgrown and the vegetation’s benefits, such as privacy, shade and erosion control. The claimant generally pays for the first round of restoration work, and the committee may split the cost. The vegetation owner pays for later maintenance. Decisions run with the land and bind future owners.

Some vegetation is exempt, including Heritage Trees, city-maintained vegetation and vegetation covered by design review height limits or a hedge claim ruling.

View Preservation

View Preservation records a view before something blocks it. City staff photograph the view from selected spots inside your primary residence, and the record becomes a Record of Views. It does not set a height limit on vegetation. It sets a benchmark for judging a significant impairment later. It covers vegetation only, and you cannot re-record it if your view improves.

If you already have a View Restoration order against one property, you can file for preservation afterward to protect the rest of your view. You cannot file for restoration if a preservation record came first. If you report that vegetation now blocks a recorded view, city staff must confirm a significant impairment before the city informs the vegetation owners. File through the city’s Public Permit Portal.

The View Restoration Committee

The committee has five residents appointed by the City Council. It generally meets the second Wednesday of each month at 5:00 p.m., and it can approve a view restoration order and set a maintenance schedule for the vegetation.

Hedge height claims

A hedge claim covers dense vegetation in a front, side or rear yard that blocks a view or sunlight or creates a safety hazard. The vegetation must be within 100 feet of your property. The code requires you to try to resolve the matter with the owner first, then file a form with a plot plan, photographs, a mailing list from a professional listing service and a fee. Once you file, the owner cannot alter the vegetation until the claim is resolved. The community development director holds a public hearing and can set a maintenance height. Either side may appeal to the City Council.

Heritage Trees

The City Council keeps a Heritage Tree List. The code’s criteria include historical significance for trees older than 50 years, distinctive form, a link to a person or event of community-wide significance, remnants of native California Live Oak, Sycamore and Toyon stands, and scenic prominence from public view corridors. An owner can apply to the community development director to nominate a tree, and placing it on the list takes a majority vote of the council. The city’s Heritage Tree List, revised October 18, 2022, is exempt from View Restoration.

Without a permit, removing, destroying or substantially altering a Heritage Tree is a misdemeanor, except in an emergency when police or fire order a hazardous tree removed. You need a permit from the community development director to trim in a way that substantially alters its natural form or to build new construction within 15 feet of the trunk. Removal needs City Council approval.

Removing a tree

A tree removal permit is required for three kinds of trees: Heritage Trees, trees on a landscape plan approved through design review and privately maintained trees in the public right-of-way. Heritage Trees go to the City Council. Design review trees go to the Design Review Board. Right-of-way trees go to the community development director after notice and an on-site meeting.

The permit is void unless the work is done within 30 days. The director can extend that time for just cause, and the city can allow more time when birds are nesting in the tree. The city may require replacement trees of at least 15 gallons. The code exempts some trees, including those with a trunk under six inches across at four and a half feet above ground, trees an ISA certified arborist finds in writing to be structurally unsound or unstable, for example because they are dead or diseased, and trees under a view restoration order. Unpermitted removal can bring citations and administrative penalties. The building permits guide explains design review.

Trimming and overhanging branches

The city suggests a certified arborist for trimming advice and says view corridors fit into a regular trimming schedule. For branches that cross your property line, the city says the matter is civil and no ordinance covers it. California Civil Code section 833 says a tree whose trunk stands wholly on one owner’s land belongs to that owner, even when roots reach next door, and section 834 says a tree whose trunk straddles a line belongs to the owners in common. Talk to your neighbor, and ask an attorney before cutting anything.

Who to call

• Planning: (949) 497-0713 for View Restoration, View Preservation, hedge claims, Heritage Trees and tree removal permits.
• Code Enforcement: (949) 497-0301 for tree removal without a permit. The neighbor rules guide lists how to report.