Stanislaus County, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

27 of the county code, added by Ordinance CS 1289 in 2021, exists "to enhance traffic safety on public roadways" because trees, shrubs, and vines planted on private land can block sightlines or crowd the pavement edge. 030 sets the baseline setback at 10 feet, measured from the edge of the right-of-way to the trunk or stem of the plant. Large-growing species, walnut trees and large ornamental shade trees are named specifically, must sit back a full 15 feet from the right-of-way line, reflecting how far their canopies and root systems eventually spread.

020 cites Streets and Highways Code Sections 1480-1496 as the source of the county's power to compel removal. When the county road commissioner determines that an encroaching tree, shrub, or vine obstructs the roadway, prevents public use of a county highway, or creates a traffic hazard, the property owner is required to remove it under Streets and Highways Code Sections 1480-1485. If the owner does not act, the road commissioner removes the plant at the owner's expense, the ordinance is explicit that the county will step in and bill the landowner rather than simply cite the violation and wait.

The chapter also preserves an emergency power: nothing in it stops the road commissioner from immediately removing an encroachment that is actively blocking vehicle traffic, without going through the standard notice-and-order sequence used for slower-moving hazards.