Irving, TX Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

2(d) of the Irving Unified Development Code applies minimum landscaping standards to "all property within the corporate limits of the City of Irving which is zoned for any nonresidential use," plus nonresidential uses such as churches, schools and government buildings sitting inside a residential district. The centerpiece is the interior parkway: a landscaped strip running along every street frontage that must average 10 feet deep, with a minimum depth of 5 feet at any point, calculated by comparing the areas above and below the 10-foot mark across the frontage.

Within that strip, developers must plant one large or medium tree for every 400 square feet of parkway area, distributed rather than clustered, with staggered setbacks encouraged for visual interest. a 4-foot sidewalk requires a 14-foot average parkway. Planting-area rules layer on top: small trees need 24 inches of soil depth and 25 square feet of open soil area; medium and large trees need 36 inches of depth and 200 square feet of soil area, with large and medium trees kept at least 4 feet from pavement and 30 feet from the nearest overhead electric distribution line.

If 10 or more replacement or new trees are required, no single species may make up more than 30 percent of the total, and every tree and shrub must come off the city-maintained approved list; artificial or synthetic plant material never counts. Landscaping placed inside the public right-of-way itself is not credited toward these totals, and the interior parkway trees must also satisfy the code's separate sight-visibility rules at street and driveway intersections. A property with its own overlay district, site plan district, or PUD development plan landscaping requirement is exempt from this citywide standard and follows its own plan instead.