Glendale, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Glendale Municipal Code Chapter 12.48 governs every parkway in the city, defined as the strip of public right-of-way between the curb and the adjacent property line. Section 12.48.060 requires a permit from the director of public works for installing or maintaining any living or non-living material greater than 12 inches high in the parkway, and it is unlawful to install such landscaping before the permit is obtained. Section 12.48.070 lists outright prohibitions regardless of permit status: no plant material bearing fruit or vegetables, no artificial turf, no ivy or dense ground covers that harbor rodents, no hardscape covering 70% or more of a residential parkway, and critically for street trees, subsection K bars planting any tree in the parkway except as permitted under Section 12.40.050 of the city-owned tree chapter, meaning parkway tree species and spacing are controlled by the city's street tree program rather than by the property owner.

Section 12.48.040 requires residential parkways to be more than 30% live plant material, and non-living hardscape may not exceed 18 inches in height under Section 12.48.030. Permit applications under Section 12.48.090 must state the variety, size and location of every plant, and Section 12.48.100 lets the director deny any application proposing non-drought-tolerant plants when a mandatory water conservation ordinance is in effect. The property owner adjacent to the parkway bears the duty to repair and maintain it under Section 12.48.130, and Section 12.48.140 makes that owner directly liable for injuries resulting from a failure to keep the parkway in a safe condition.