Bowling Green, KY Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Sec. 26-5.01 of the Bowling Green Code of Ordinances lets a property owner plant a tree, shrub or other vegetation in the strip of public right-of-way that fronts their lot, but only under listed conditions. The species cannot appear on the city's undesirable tree list (Sec. 26-5.02, which flags trees like Silver Maple, Siberian Elm and Tree of Heaven). Spacing between trees is set by mature size: forty-five feet for a large tree, thirty-five feet for a medium tree and twenty-five feet for a small tree.

Any tree must sit at least twenty feet from a street curb at an intersection and stay outside the sight triangle defined in the Zoning Ordinance, and at least ten feet from a fire hydrant or utility pole. Only a small tree may go within twenty lateral feet of overhead utility wires, and only a small or medium tree between twenty and thirty feet from those wires. Planting inside the "utility strip" between the curb and sidewalk is barred unless that strip is at least four feet wide in every direction and covers fifty square feet, and only a medium tree may go there.

The property owner locates the right-of-way boundary (the City can help), must call 811 before digging, is responsible for any utility damage, and takes on maintenance of the tree once planted. The City accepts no liability for anything planted in its rights-of-way, and plantings cannot sit in drainage ditches or block stormwater flow.