Skagit County, WA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer width
- 8 feet on street frontage
- Tree spacing
- 1 tree per 30 ft frontage
- Tree height at planting
- 6 feet minimum
- Governing section
- SCC 14.25.070 (Type III)
- Civil penalty
- $100/day per violation (SCC 14.09.330)
Summary
In unincorporated Skagit County, commercial and industrial developments must install street-frontage landscaping under SCC 14.25.070: an eight-foot-wide buffer with trees spaced no more than 30 feet apart along the road frontage. Planning and Development Services reviews the plan with every commercial or industrial permit, and the Alger Rural Village Commercial zone follows the same one-tree-per-30-feet standard under SCC 14.25.080.
(a) An eight-foot-wide Type III buffer is required on the street frontage of all development within all commercial/industrial zones. ... (i) Trees. Evergreen and deciduous trees, with no more than 50 percent being deciduous, a minimum of six feet in height, and planted at intervals no greater than 30 feet on center, or maximum spacing of one tree for every 30 feet of road frontage may be planted in groupings so as not to visually block a business entrance.
Full Breakdown
070, is the street frontage standard that applies to every commercial and industrial application in unincorporated Skagit County. 06. Inside the buffer, developments in the AVR, AVR-L, NRI, BR-LI, BR-HI, RFS, SRT, and RMI zones must plant evergreen and deciduous trees, capped at 50 percent deciduous, each at least six feet tall at planting, spaced no more than 30 feet on center, which the code also states as one tree for every 30 feet of road frontage; trees may be clustered in groups rather than spaced evenly if that avoids blocking a business entrance.
Shrubs and berms fill the strip between trees at a minimum of three and one half feet in height, covering the ground within three years. In URC-I, RVC, RC, SSB, and R zones the same buffer instead uses two 50-square-foot plant groupings. 080 sets an identical one-tree-per-30-feet standard, using only deciduous street trees, for the Rural Village Commercial zone at Alger, paired with a five-foot pedestrian pathway along the frontage.
Violations & Fines
Skagit County enforces Title 14 landscaping requirements through SCC 14.09.330: a civil penalty of $100 per day per violation applies to an uninstalled or removed street tree buffer, doubling to $200 per day if the property owner commits a new Title 14 violation within a year of resolving a prior one. The Director can also order abatement and suspend the permit under SCC 14.09.340 and 14.09.350 until the required trees are planted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every commercial lot in unincorporated Skagit County need street trees?
How far apart can street trees be planted?
Are the Alger street tree rules different?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Skagit County
Compare Skagit County to another location·View the Washington tree protection overview
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