Hillsboro, OR Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 6.16.020 of the Hillsboro Municipal Code sits in the Hazardous Conditions subchapter and puts the trimming duty squarely on "the owner or person in charge of property." Subsection (A) bars limbs of any bush, tree, shrub or other vegetation from projecting into or across the abutting street, sidewalk, public land or public place in a way that interferes with use, blocks a driver's view, blocks people walking or biking, or otherwise creates a hazard. Subsection (B) sets the numbers: overhanging vegetation must be trimmed to a minimum clearance of 8 feet above the sidewalk and 15 feet above the roadway, and bushes and shrubbery cannot overhang either surface at all. Subsection (C) separately forbids letting noxious vegetation grow over or onto the property or the abutting right-of-way, including sidewalks, planter strips and streets.

The trimming duty runs the other direction too: under subsection (D), nobody but an authorized city employee, agent or contractor may cut, trim or remove vegetation actually growing on the street, sidewalk or public land itself, unless another part of the code (chiefly HMC 9.18, the street-tree chapter) places that duty on the abutting owner. Maintenance and removal of city-owned street trees runs through that separate HMC 9.18 process, not this section.

Subsection (E) attaches a civil consequence on top of any code penalty: an owner who neglects to comply is liable to anyone injured by the overgrown vegetation and to the City for any costs, expenses and attorney fees the City incurs defending or paying a resulting claim. Enforcement otherwise runs through the City's standard code-violation penalty at HMC 1.08.010(B), a flat $500.00 fine per violation unless a different penalty is specified, with each day of noncompliance counted as a separate offense under HMC 1.08.030.