Brockton, MA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Sec. 20-48(7), part of the street opening permit's standard terms, requires a permit holder or contractor doing excavation work in a public way to preserve and protect adjoining property, including shoring up buildings, walls, fences, and trees likely to be damaged during the work, and to bear responsibility for damage resulting from failure to properly protect the work area. Within that same subsection, the code specifically bars removing, even temporarily, any trees or shrubs existing in planting strip areas without first obtaining the consent of the commissioner of the department of public works or a designee.

Sec. 20-48(8) then addresses what happens when a tree is lost: if a tree is either accidentally destroyed by the permit holder or contractor, or authorized for removal by the awarding authority's representative, the contractor must remove the tree, stump, and debris from the site and replace the tree with an identical species, at a minimum caliper of two inches, planted in the identical location. The provision sits inside the broader street opening by-law (Sec. ), which the DPW commissioner administers as awarding authority for any excavation in a public way, so the planting-strip tree protection applies specifically to contractors and utilities working under a street opening permit rather than to private tree removal generally.