Waco, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 25-52, "Overhangs," sits in Chapter 25's Article III, "Trees and Other Sight Obstructions," and applies to any person maintaining property within the city, not just the tree's outright owner: it covers whoever "maintains, permits or allows to be maintained or permitted" the overhang. The obligation attaches to limbs of trees, and to any other object or plant, that overhang or grow above the parkway area between the property line and curbline of an abutting street. The default standard is a minimum of 14 feet of clearance above the street level measured at the nearest curbline. That floor rises if it isn't enough to keep sightlines clear: the section separately requires whatever clearance provides an unobstructed view of traffic-control devices for at least 200 feet, and requires compliance with the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices where that manual sets a stricter figure.

The rule is enforced through the article's general notice-and-correct process in Section 25-56: the city gives the property owner, occupant or lessee written notice describing the violation and a deadline to trim the tree, and only if that deadline passes uncorrected does the city issue a citation or send a crew to cut the limbs itself and bill the obstruction's removal to the property. If the overhang is judged an immediate safety hazard, Section 25-56(d) lets the city skip advance notice and remove it right away. Section 25-53 separately bars "topping," meaning cutting limbs back to stubs over three inches thick that disfigures the tree's canopy, as a normal pruning method, except where storm damage, utility lines or visibility problems make it unavoidable.