Bloomington, IN Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Maintenance duty
- Adjacent property owner
- Covers
- Mowing, raking, brush, prohibited plant removal
- Prohibited act
- Paving, graveling, removing grassed tree lawn
- Citywide planting goal
- 20% more planted than removed yearly
- Planting-to-removal ratio target
- 1.2 to 1
- Penalty basis
- Up to Indiana Code § 36-1-3-8 limit
Summary
In the City of Bloomington, owners of property next to a public street must maintain the street tree lawn, the strip between the curb and the sidewalk, including mowing, raking and removing prohibited plants. Paving, graveling, removing or otherwise converting a grassed tree lawn is against the code, and the city aims to plant twenty percent more trees than it removes each year.
It is the policy of the city to maintain and expand the tree cover of the city as a whole and of individual streets and neighborhoods in particular by planting trees in accordance with practices observed by certified urban foresters. Overall, the city's annual goal shall be to plant at least twenty percent more trees than it removes, in order to maintain a planting to removal ratio of at least one point two to one. ... The city shall have all the right and authority granted to municipalities under law to require the owners of parcels of land adjacent to a public street to maintain and improve the street tree lawn area. Such maintenance and improvement shall include, but is not limited to, leaf raking, turf grass mowing, brush collection, landscape maintenance, and prohibited plant species removal. ... The surface of tree lawn areas shall be as level as practicable, and the grade thereof shall be the top lines of the sidewalk and curb. No person shall pave, gravel, remove or otherwise convert existing grassed tree lawn areas.
Full Breakdown
2 to 1. Any removed tree is to be replaced at or near its original location as soon as the planting season allows, as part of an ongoing replacement and new-planting program. 030 then puts day-to-day upkeep of the planting strip on the abutting owner: the city has 'all the right and authority granted to municipalities under law' to require owners of land adjacent to a public street to maintain and improve the street tree lawn area, covering leaf raking, turf grass mowing, brush collection, landscape maintenance and removal of prohibited plant species.
The tree lawn's surface must stay as level as practicable, graded to the top lines of the sidewalk and curb, and no person may pave, gravel, remove or otherwise convert an existing grassed tree lawn area. 080(d)(1) in the Unified Development Ordinance.
Violations & Fines
A violation of the tree lawn maintenance or paving prohibition is enforced under § 12.24.110 through § 12.24.120: the department or board issues a notice of violation identifying the location, the plant or condition involved, the code sections violated, and the correction period, and a violator may first receive an official warning before being subject, on a written notice of violation, to a penalty up to the statutory limit set in Indiana Code § 36-1-3-8. Unpaid abatement costs the city incurs can be certified and placed on the property's tax duplicate for collection as taxes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has to maintain the grass strip between the sidewalk and the street in Bloomington?
Can I pave over the tree lawn in front of my house for parking?
Does Bloomington have a tree planting goal?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bloomington
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