Dothan, AL Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Section 114-164(l), the overlay's landscape standards, governs every developer required to submit a landscape plan for new construction within the Highway 84 East corridor's six subdistricts: downtown core, downtown edge, mixed-use 4, mixed-use 3, mixed-use 2 and institutional. Subsection (3)h sets the base spacing rule: trees must be placed no closer than their expected canopy width at three-quarter maturity, and never more than 40 feet apart on center, a rule aimed at continuous street shade rather than isolated specimen trees. Subsection (3)i then sets the minimum planting size specifically for parkways and tree wells, the landscaped strips and cutouts between the curb and sidewalk: a 24-inch box tree, a container-grown tree substantially larger than typical nursery stock.

The surrounding subsections require plans to note controls for surface roots and irrigation, encourage engineered tree cell products, and bar pruning except to remove unsafe branches or clear utility lines and buildings, so street trees can reach full height and canopy. Plans must be prepared or reviewed by a landscape architect or landscape designer registered in the State of Alabama under § 114-164(l)(1). Any dead, diseased or damaged required tree must be replaced with a specimen equal to or greater in size than the one it replaces, and of the same species unless an alternate is shown more likely to thrive, under § 114-164(l)(3)r.

All development in the overlay, including its landscape plan, is reviewed through the Article V development plan approval process administered by the Planning and Development Department, with deviations from these standards going to the Dothan Planning Commission under § 114-164(r)(3).