Bakersfield, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Controlling official
- Director of recreation and parks
- Species source
- Official Tree Planting List, filed with city clerk
- Adjacent-owner duty
- Maintain parkway trees, § 12.40.050
- Banned species
- Female cottonwood, fruiting mulberry, tree-of-heaven
- Contractor requirement
- City permit under § 12.40.095
Summary
The city's director of recreation and parks controls all planting in Bakersfield's parkways and streets, limited to species on the official Bakersfield tree planting list, under Municipal Code Chapter 12.40's "tree ordinance."
The director shall have full jurisdiction and control of the designation of types and varieties, planting, setting out, locating and placing of all trees, shrubs and plants in the streets, parks, parkways and public places of the city, and shall likewise have supervision, direction and control of the removal, relocation and replacement thereof; provided, however, that in making such determinations and exercising such control, he or she shall be limited to the trees, shrubs or plants designated on the then current official tree planting list.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 5221, passed July 15, 2026).
Full Breakdown
020(B) as the strip between the sidewalk and the roadway, or any adjacent public planting area. 030 requires the city planning commission, after consulting the city urban forester, to designate approved tree types and varieties and file that determination with the city clerk as the "Official Tree Planting List, Bakersfield, California"; the director of recreation and parks then prepares a citywide street-tree plan showing intervals and planting locations for council approval. 040 gives the director full jurisdiction over designating types, planting, setting out, locating and placing trees, shrubs and plants in streets, parks, parkways and public places, but limits that authority to species on the current official planting list.
050 to cultivate, care for and maintain parkway trees next to their property, subject to the director's supervision. 110 bans planting specific nuisance species citywide, female cottonwood (fruiting Populus fremontii), fruiting mulberry (Morus alba/nigra), and tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus), regardless of location. 095, separate from any encroachment permit, with the fee set by council resolution.
Violations & Fines
Interfering with city tree-planting or maintenance work, or violating the species restrictions of § 12.40.110, is enforceable under the code's general penalty provisions in Chapter 1.40. Commercial contractors who perform tree work in parkways without the § 12.40.095 permit are also subject to citation, and that permit does not substitute for a required encroachment permit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Bakersfield resident plant any tree species in the parkway strip?
Who has to water and prune a parkway tree in Bakersfield?
Are female cottonwood trees allowed anywhere in Bakersfield?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bakersfield
California rules heatmap·Compare Bakersfield to another location·View the California tree protection overview
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