Framingham, MA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Framingham City Code § 530-61 governs parkway and street tree planting inside every new subdivision built in the city. The Department of Public Works, through the Framingham Tree Warden, oversees selection: applicants pick species suitable as street trees, subject to Tree Warden approval, and no tree or shrub may be planted at a street corner or intersection where it would create a visual hazard by blocking sight lines. Spacing is fixed at one street tree every 20 to 30 feet, with a floor of two street trees on every lot the subdivision creates.

Where a road has a sidewalk, street trees go on alternating sides of it; where a road or way has no sidewalk, trees are staggered along the roadway instead. Newly planted stock must measure 2.5 to three inches in caliper. Utility and transformer boxes within the subdivision must be screened on every side with shrubs at least 18 inches tall at planting, sized to eventually match the height of the equipment they hide. The applicant or developer waters and maintains all new street trees and shrubs until they are established, at which point a homeowners' association takes over long-term upkeep of street trees along any unaccepted street, plus any median center strip.

A median or center-strip planting plan must be designed and stamped by a Massachusetts-registered landscape architect, who certifies the planting was installed as designed within 30 days. The Tree Warden's certification of compliance with these planting rules is a prerequisite Inspectional Services checks before it signs off on a certificate of occupancy for lots in the subdivision.