Costa Mesa releases urban canopy assessment; council asks staff for budgeted options to grow tree cover

City staff presented an urban tree canopy and land assessment Tuesday showing Costa Mesa’s tree canopy coverage at 13.88% based on 2024 imagery and an estimated city tree inventory of roughly 22,700 trees with a calculated replacement value exceeding $100 million.

Maintenance Services Manager Ryan and the consultant described methodology (USDA imagery plus local GIS layers), identified suitable and unsuitable planting areas, and noted that only about 5.63% of land was judged suitable for new planting under current constraints. The presentation highlighted district and census‑tract disparities: District 1 has the highest existing canopy, District 5 the lowest, and District 6 showed the greatest percentage of suitable planting area. The assessment also noted that a recommended minimum canopy for arid/semi‑arid climates is about 20%.

Council discussed maintenance cycles, pruning schedules, young trees maturing over 5–8 years, and funding trade‑offs. Public commenters called for clearer maps showing where planting is feasible and for replanting after removals. Councilmember Arliss Reynolds moved and the council approved (5‑1) a direction for staff to return by April 21 with additional information: current tree‑program activities and expenses, ballpark cost estimates for growing canopy (for example, what it would take to increase canopy by 1% or 5%), grant and partnership opportunities, and an estimated cost to develop a full urban tree‑canopy master plan.

Next steps: staff will compile existing program costs, preliminary recommendations and a ballpark estimate for planning/master‑plan costs to inform the budget process; the city expects some canopy gains from existing young trees in coming years but emphasized that new planting and maintenance require funding and site‑specific planning.