Tree Section Homes for Sale, Manhattan Beach

The Tree Section sits inland of the Sand Section, north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, on streets named for trees. It is the part of Manhattan Beach where the tree protection ordinance began, and it is also the part with the least conventional street infrastructure in the city.

Lots here are larger than the Sand Section and smaller than the Hill Section. The building rules sit in between as well.

Where is the Tree Section, exactly?

Here is something worth knowing before you compare listings: the City publishes two different boundaries for the Tree Section, and they do not match.

• The General Plan Land Use Element describes it as bounded by Rosecrans Avenue, Sepulveda Boulevard, Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Valley Drive/Ardmore Avenue and Grandview Avenue.
• The residential parking permit program describes it as bounded by Sepulveda Boulevard, Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Pine Avenue and 33rd Street.

Both are City sources. The parking-program version covers a smaller area. Neither is wrong, they are drawn for different purposes, and a property can sit inside one and outside the other.

That matters when a listing claims the label. If the Tree Section is what you are buying for, confirm the address against the boundary that actually applies to your question, whether that is parking, zoning or simply how the neighborhood is understood.

What are the tree removal rules?

The ordinance started here. The City adopted the Tree Protection Ordinance in 1993 to protect front yard trees in the Tree Section, then expanded it citywide in 2003, with the Sand Section excluded. So the rule is no longer unique to this neighborhood, though this is where it originated.

What it actually covers is narrower than most people assume:

• It applies to residentially zoned property in Area Districts I and II, which includes the Tree Section.
• A protected tree is one whose trunk sits at least partly within the required front yard or the streetside yard on a corner lot, with a trunk 12 inches or more in diameter measured at four and a half feet.
• Rear yard and interior side yard trees are not protected.
• Deciduous fruit trees and Washingtonia palms are excluded.

Removing or relocating a protected tree requires a permit from the Planning Division. Replacement is a 36-inch box tree for each tree removed, planted within 90 days, and the application requires written neighbor notification and an arborist report. Unpermitted removal is a misdemeanor or infraction, and after-the-fact permit fees are doubled.

The ordinance has not changed since 2009, so this is a settled rule rather than a moving target.

Who maintains the parkway trees?

This one surprises people. Street and parkway trees fall under a separate chapter of the code, and the adjacent property owner normally bears responsibility and cost for maintenance and removal, not the City. The City removes a parkway tree only when it is a hazard to street maintenance or City services.

Any work on a parkway tree still requires a Public Works permit, and pruning is limited to the window from 1 September to 31 March.

Why are there no sidewalks on some streets?

Because there never were. The General Plan notes that most of the Tree Section has an absence of sidewalks, curbs and gutters, with varying street widths. It also observes that some property owners have established private landscaping and parking areas within the undeveloped portion of the public right-of-way.

For a buyer, that is worth understanding before an offer. What looks like part of the front yard may sit in the public right-of-way, and the City retains its interest in that strip regardless of what has been planted or paved there.

What can you build in the Tree Section?

The Tree Section is Area District II. For single-family property:

• Minimum lot area 4,600 square feet
• Minimum lot width 40 feet
• Maximum height 26 feet and two stories
• Buildable floor area 240 plus 0.65 times the lot area, for lots above 4,800 square feet

Compare with the Sand Section, where the minimum lot is 2,700 square feet but the height limit is 30 feet and three stories. Larger lots here, lower buildings.

These standards cannot be loosened without a citywide vote. Any amendment raising height or floor area, or reducing setbacks or lot minimums, has to go to the ballot.

The Tree Section is inland, so the coastal development permit requirements that govern The Strand and Ocean Drive do not reach it. That is a meaningful simplification if you intend to remodel.

Which schools serve the Tree Section?

Manhattan Beach Unified School District serves the entire city, and unlike neighboring Redondo Beach Unified it publishes per-address elementary attendance boundaries, so assignment can be confirmed rather than assumed.

District elementary schools are Grand View (455 24th Street), Meadows (1200 Meadows Avenue), Pacific (1200 Pacific Avenue), Pennekamp (110 South Rowell) and Robinson (80 Morningside Drive). Mira Costa High School is at 1401 Artesia Boulevard. Confirm assignment for a specific address with the district.

Working with a Tree Section agent

The Tree Section rewards checking the specifics, because two of its defining features are regulatory rather than visible. The boundary depends on which City document you are reading, and the front yard tree may not be yours to remove. If you are buying or selling here, we are glad to walk a specific address with you, and our Manhattan Beach overview compares the sections.

Continue exploring Manhattan Beach

• Sand Section – the coastal strip and the walk streets
• Hill Section – the largest lots in the city
• Manhattan Village – the only gated community in the three beach cities
• Manhattan Heights and Liberty Village – the Eastside north of the boulevard
• Mira Costa area – the Eastside south of the boulevard
• El Porto – the northern end, with the most permissive building rules
• Downtown Manhattan Beach – the mixed commercial and residential core
• The Strand – the beachfront frontage and its permit threshold
• American Martyrs – a coastal pocket
• Gas Lamp Section – carries a City design overlay
• Poets Section – named in the General Plan
• Roth Tract and Bird Section – between Herrin and Peck
• Manhattan Beach overview – how the sections compare