Edmonds, WA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit required
- To plant, remove or prune any street tree
- Issuing authority
- Director of public works
- Governing plan
- Edmonds Street Tree Plan (1982)
- Second violation
- Misdemeanor under ECDC 18.85.030(B)
- Protection zone
- No excavation within 10 ft of a street tree
Summary
Planting, removing or pruning any tree in an Edmonds street right-of-way, parking strip or planting strip requires a permit from the director of public works under ECDC 18.85.020. The director issues the permit only if the work matches the 1982 Edmonds Street Tree Plan, the applicant shows competence in tree care, and the proposed method and workmanship are adequate.
A. Required. ... No person shall plant, remove, prune or otherwise change a tree on a street, right-of-way, parking or planting strip or other public place without a permit from the director of public works. This permit requirement does not apply to city employees under the direction of the director of public works. ... ... C. Issuance. The director of public works shall issue the permit if the proposal conforms to the street tree plan, the applicant demonstrates knowledge of the proper care and maintenance of trees, and the director is satisfied that the proposed method and workmanship is adequate.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4444, passed August 3, 2026).
Full Breakdown
020(A) requires a public works permit before anyone plants, removes, prunes or otherwise changes a tree on a street, right-of-way, parking strip, planting strip or other public place; the requirement does not reach city employees working under the director's direction. Applications go to the director of public works under subsection (B), and subsection (C) sets the issuance standard: the director approves the permit only if the proposal conforms to the street tree plan, the applicant demonstrates knowledge of proper tree care and maintenance, and the director is satisfied the proposed method and workmanship are adequate.
010 and kept on file with the city clerk; all street tree planting and streetscape landscaping must conform to it. 050(C), which govern tree size, species and placement. 050(A) requires the city to replant or replace it, or plant an equivalent number nearby under the street tree plan if replanting on site is not possible, and the permittee bears the cost of that removal and replacement. 040 bars anyone, absent the director's authorization, from attaching ropes, wires, nails or advertising posters to a street tree, letting harmful substances contact it, burning near it, or excavating within 10 feet of it.
Violations & Fines
Planting a street tree without a permit, or against the street tree plan, lets the director of public works remove the noncompliant tree; ECDC 18.85.030(B) makes a second such violation a misdemeanor. Damaging an established street tree, tying hardware to it, letting harmful substances reach it, burning near it, or excavating within 10 feet of it under ECDC 18.85.040 is a separate offense the director enforces directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to plant a tree in the Edmonds parking strip?
What standard does Edmonds use to approve a street tree planting permit?
Can I dig near an existing Edmonds street tree?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Edmonds
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Parkway Planting in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Snohomish County handle parkway planting.