Sumner County, TN Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 1104, Subsection D(5) of the Zoning Resolution requires that all required landscaping in the unincorporated county "incorporate vision triangles that preserve the visibility of pedestrians and motorists," and it flatly bars any plant material taller than 30 inches inside that triangle. The Resolution's Appendix A defines the Vision Triangle as the area where nothing may be erected, placed, planted, or allowed to grow in a manner that limits or obstructs a motorist's sight distance entering or leaving an intersection. For intersecting streets and corner lots, the triangle is drawn by connecting two points measured 30 feet in each direction along the right-of-way line from the corner.

For driveways on non-corner lots, it runs from a point 20 feet along the right-of-way from the driveway's centerline to a point 15 feet along the driveway boundary. Section 1101, Subsection A applies the same visibility standard countywide: on any corner lot, in any zoning district, nothing may be erected, placed, planted, or allowed to grow so as to impede the vision triangle. Because landscaping plans are reviewed at site plan approval under Chapter 14, a developer or homeowner adding trees, hedges, or tall shrubs near a corner or driveway must keep that growth trimmed to 30 inches or less, or relocate it outside the platted triangle, before the Director of Building Codes will sign off.