Downey, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Chapter 6, Street Tree Preservation and Protection, gives the Director of Public Works exclusive authority under § 7602 over the inspection, maintenance, planting, pruning, trimming, removal, replacement and care of every median and parkway tree in the city, and the Director sets which species may go into any parkway consistent with the adopted Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) and Street Tree Master Plan (STMP). Section 7604 turns that authority into an enforceable permit requirement: no one but the City or someone acting under the City's authority may plant a tree, shrub, plant or other vegetation, other than grass or approved landscape materials, in the street right-of-way without a Public Works Department permit and without following every condition of that permit.

Anything planted without a permit is not grandfathered in; the Director may remove it at his or her discretion, and the code specifies the City needs no consent from the resident or business that did the planting. Section 7604 also lists the criteria Public Works uses to judge whether a spot is a viable planting site: adequate overhead, underground and radial spacing for the tree's mature size, sufficient traffic line-of-sight for signage, streetlights and sightlines, a reliable water source, and available funding requested through the annual budget cycle.

Species selection runs through § 7603, which screens candidate trees for hardiness, drought tolerance, wind resistance, root behavior, pest resistance, canopy litter and neighborhood-specific maintenance-district history before the UFMP and STMP designate them for city planting.