Pasco, WA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Pasco regulates the trimming of trees in public spaces through Chapter 12.12 of the Pasco Municipal Code (Trees and Shrubs). Under PMC 12.12.030, the owner of any real property is responsible for the condition and maintenance of all vegetation on the portion of the public right-of-way abutting the property. PMC 12.12.050 governs permission to plant or substantially prune trees or shrubs, and PMC 12.12.080 addresses permission to remove or substantially prune trees, meaning substantial pruning of street-side trees is done in accordance with the chapter rather than freely. PMC 12.12.150 makes it a violation to damage, destroy, or mutilate any tree, shrub, or plant in a public planting strip or other public place, or to attach items to a tree growing in a public place; owners or occupants may trim or remove trees and plants in the planting strip of their own property in accordance with the chapter. Under PMC 12.12.110, trees, plants, shrubs and other vegetation that overhang or obstruct a sidewalk, street or alley are public nuisances that the owner must abate by trimming. Routine pruning of trees entirely on private property (not in the planting strip or right-of-way) is generally not separately permitted by this chapter, though owners must still keep growth from becoming a nuisance.