Baytown, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Sec. 94-6, 'Obstruction of public rights-of-way,' targets vegetation and objects that interfere with traffic visibility rather than routine street-tree maintenance. An owner or occupant commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly allows or permits any tree, shrub, vine, plant, lumber, boxes, posts, or other objects to grow, be cultivated, or be maintained so that any portion overhangs, obtrudes, obstructs, or exists upon or over a public right-of-way in a way that blocks the vision of a motor vehicle operator on a public street. mail without the condition being corrected, the owner or occupant is presumed to have intentionally or knowingly committed the offense.

That structure gives property owners a built-in cure window before liability attaches, but it also means ignoring a mailed notice for ten days is itself enough to establish intent in a prosecution. The rule sits in Chapter 94, Article I ('In General'), alongside other traffic-safety obstruction offenses, reflecting that its purpose is sightline protection at intersections and along roadways rather than general tree-canopy regulation of the sort found in the city's landscaping or subdivision standards.