Hazardous Tree Removal

Usually yes. Redwood City protects trees on private property whose trunk exceeds 38 inches in circumference, roughly 12 inches across, measured between 6 and 36 inches above the ground, and a permit is required to prune one as well as to remove it. The useful part is that the city approves removals for specific reasons, and the first three are dead, dying, or structurally unsound. That is the definition of a hazardous tree, so the hazard is not an obstacle to the permit, it is the argument for it. A documented arborist assessment is both the reason to act and the evidence the city needs.

Removing a protected tree without a permit carries a fine of $500 per tree, plus a required replacement tree valued at the appraised value of the one taken out. On a mature specimen that appraisal is not small. The same $500 per tree fine applies to unpermitted pruning of a protected tree.

Most removals start at about $1,000 per tree, and large or complex trees run higher. The spread is about access and what sits underneath, not height. A tree with a clear drop zone comes down in sections and gets chipped on site. The same tree over a roof, a pool or a neighbour's property has to be rigged and lowered piece by piece, which is slower and needs more crew. Species and condition matter too, because a decayed trunk cannot be climbed safely, and stump grinding is usually quoted separately.

Usually not for the removal itself. Most policies respond after a tree has fallen and caused damage, and many will contribute to removing the fallen debris, but few pay to take down a standing tree however obviously dangerous, because insurers treat that as maintenance. There is a sharper reason to act than the removal cost. Once you have been told in writing that a tree is a hazard, you know, and a tree that fails afterwards and damages a neighbour's property is a different conversation with your insurer than one that came down in a storm with no warning. Ask your own carrier how they treat a documented hazard before deciding to wait.

Call immediately, day or night, if a tree or major limb is already down on a structure, a vehicle or a road, if a tree is leaning against a building, or if any part of it is touching a power line. For anything touching a line call PG&E first, because that is their work and nobody should be near it. It can usually wait for a scheduled assessment if the tree is dead but well clear of everything, if the concern is deadwood in the upper canopy with nothing beneath it, or if you noticed fungus at the base with no lean and no cracking. Waiting there means days, not a season.