Hercules, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

618(a) of the Hercules Municipal Code sets the clearance standard for trees along city streets: any tree conflicting with grading, utilities, or other improvements, or overhanging the sidewalk or pavement so as to form a nuisance or hazard, must be removed or trimmed to eliminate the nuisance or hazard. 812, which caps sight-obstructing growth at three feet within the triangular area at street corners and exempts trees trimmed to a clear trunk line at least eight feet above the intersection grade; that section governs corner sightlines, not general sidewalk overhang.

618 instead targets any tree, anywhere along a public street, whose branches or root conflicts make the sidewalk or pavement unsafe or otherwise create a nuisance. 618 sits in the Title 10 subdivision improvement standards, the Department of Public Works is the enforcing department, consistent with its authority elsewhere in the same chapter over street lighting, signage, drainage, and other right-of-way improvements. The rule does not specify a numeric clearance height in feet for sidewalk overhang the way the corner-visibility rule does (eight feet trunk clearance); it instead uses the nuisance-or-hazard standard, leaving the determination of what is unsafe overhang to Public Works on a case-by-case basis, typically triggered by a complaint or a routine inspection along the right-of-way.