Eugene, OR Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- EC 7.280, Street Tree Program
- Trigger
- Required before creating any new street
- Establishment period
- 3 years of watering, pruning, replacement
- Payment options
- City-installs fee, or self-install plus bond
- Existing trees
- Must be retained unless removal is approved
- Replacement standard
- Similar-value tree per ISA appraisal guide
Summary
Eugene requires an approved street tree plan before any new street can be created, under EC 7.280: developers must plant and establish trees on every street the development abuts, either by paying the city to do the planting or doing it themselves under a bonded, city-reviewed plan.
(1) Policy. In order to create attractive and healthy neighborhood environments, no approval shall be granted for a development that involves the creation of a street unless the applicant has submitted and received approval of a street tree plan that ensures street trees will be planted and established in accordance with the standards and procedures provided for in this section and the adopted policies of the Urban Forest Management Plan... (3)(a) Pay to the city a fee established by the city manager pursuant to section 2.020 of this code that is equal to the cost of the purchase, installation and establishment of the street trees required by the approved street tree plan.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 20739, passed June 8, 2026).
Full Breakdown
280 makes street tree planting a precondition of development, not an optional amenity: no development that creates a street may be approved unless the applicant has submitted and received approval of a street tree plan consistent with the city's Urban Forest Management Plan. That plan must cover both streets abutting the development and any new streets created within it. 019, covering which tree species may be used, planting specifications, and a required three-year 'establishment' period that includes watering, initial pruning, and replacement of any tree that doesn't survive.
280(3): pay the city a fee equal to the full cost of purchasing, installing, and establishing the required trees, after which the city takes over that work, or install and establish the trees itself, first paying a separate fee to cover the city's plan review, inspection, and monitoring costs, and posting a security bond or deposit guaranteeing the work gets done. 330; any tree removed for construction has to be replaced within the right-of-way with a tree of similar value, calculated using the International Society of Arboriculture's Guide for Plant Appraisal, at the developer's expense.
Violations & Fines
EC 7.280 enforces compliance through the development approval process itself rather than a standalone citation: a street cannot get final plat approval without an approved street tree plan and payment of the required fee or bond, and removing an existing large street tree without approval under EC 6.300 to 6.330 triggers that section's separate tree-removal penalties along with a mandatory like-value replacement inside the right-of-way at the developer's cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to plant street trees to develop in Eugene?
How long do developers have to maintain new street trees?
What happens if I remove a street tree during construction?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Eugene
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