Commerce City, CO Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

The property owner adjacent to a tree lawn is responsible for maintaining it. Where the sidewalk is separated from the street, canopy shade trees are planted at 30- to 40-foot spacing down the center of the tree lawn; where the sidewalk meanders, the code allows grouped or clustered trees as long as the total count is met. Where the sidewalk is instead attached to the street, canopy shade trees go in a band three to seven feet behind the walk at the same 30- to 40-foot spacing, and where that attached sidewalk is ten feet wide or more, or runs curb to property line, trees need a planting cutout of at least sixteen square feet.

Ornamental trees substitute for canopy shade trees wherever overhead lines would prevent normal growth. The planting design itself must use turf grass or xeric plant material with appropriate irrigation, though industrial-area tree lawns can use other designs. Trees must sit in the center of the planting strip, no closer than two and a half feet behind the sidewalk, and never where a curb-to-detached-sidewalk gap is under five feet; larger maturing species should be spaced 40 feet apart and smaller species 30 feet apart, though the director can require wider spacing for safety.

No street tree may go within eight feet of a driveway or alley, or in a spot where its mature growth would obstruct public improvements. These standards are enforced through development review and Land Development Code Article X.