Austin, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Sec. 6-3-23 (Planting Restricted by Sidewalks), carried over from 1992 Code Sections 16-7-41 and 16-7-43, imposes two duties on an Austin property owner. First, a tree or plant may not be allowed to overgrow or obstruct a sidewalk so that it prevents public use of the area, a general no-blocking rule covering low branches and overgrown shrubs. Second, and more specifically, an owner must trim any tree limbs that grow over a sidewalk to a minimum clearance of 14 feet above street level, measured at the nearest curbline, so trucks, buses and pedestrians can pass beneath without striking a branch.

The same 14-foot figure reappears in Sec. 6-3-26 (Authority to Maintain Public Right-of-Way): if the urban forester determines a tree over a street, sidewalk or public easement fails to provide that clearance or blocks a driver's view of traffic, and the owner has already been sent a notice of obstruction under Sec. 6-3-25 and missed the ten-day correction window, the urban forester may trim or remove the tree directly, with the city manager deciding when city-ordered trimming is needed. Because Chapter 6-3 treats sidewalk and street clearance as a public right-of-way issue rather than a private landscaping preference, the duty falls on whoever owns or controls the abutting property, and it applies citywide, not just downtown. A violation is enforced under the Article 1 penalty at Sec. 6-3-8.