Davis, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

020 lists conditions declared public nuisances under the tree chapter. Subsection (f) sets the clearance standard directly: any plant that impedes sidewalks and bike paths, or hangs lower than eight feet over pedestrian and bike paths, or lower than fourteen feet over a traffic lane, is a nuisance. Subsection (a) separately reaches any tree or plant growing on private property that overhangs the street or interferes with its use in a way the director finds endangers life, health, safety, or public property. Subsection (c) adds sight-triangle protection, declaring a nuisance any plant taller than thirty-six inches measured from the curb gutter within a triangular area extending twenty-five feet along the curb in either direction from a sidewalk-curb intersection.

010 authorizes inspection of any tree or plant on private property to determine whether it constitutes a nuisance, and the director determines the corrective action, which can include pruning, root work, site modification, or removal. Abatement then proceeds under Chapter 23 of the code, the general nuisance abatement procedure, which this remedy is cumulative to rather than a substitute for. 020 does not distinguish ownership for the height-based standards.