Bellevue, WA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

110 or the Land Use Code. The section starts from a preservation default: the city can require retention of existing vegetation along city streets. Only when retention isn't feasible does the native-plant preference kick in, directing that native plant species or species with a proven ability to survive in an urban environment be preferred for the replacement planting. That preference applies specifically to the replanting scenario the section contemplates: a developer permitted to remove or relocate right-of-way plant material for street widening, sidewalk paving, or installation of a driveway must replant or replace what was removed to city standards, and the native-species preference governs what goes back in.

The same subsection reaches damage from private construction: any right-of-way landscaping disturbed by construction on adjacent private property, including damaged or removed trees, must be replaced or restored to its original condition by the developer, with native species again preferred where new planting is chosen. If restoration isn't physically or practically possible, the review engineer can instead require reimbursement to the city, valued under the International Society of Arboriculture's Guide for Establishing Value of Trees and Other Plants for trees, with other landscape plants valued by the city's own reasonable estimate. Landscaping and related improvements such as fencing or rockeries placed in the right-of-way remain subject to removal by the city at any time.