Kent, WA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

10 defines a planting strip as the area available for planting between the street curb, the edge of the traveled roadway, and the property line. 020, the parks and recreation director has full advisory authority over selecting, planting, and maintaining all trees, plants, and shrubs on public streets and planting areas, approves the official tree planting list, and confines all new plantings to species on that list, though replacement plantings may match existing trees with the director's approval. 030 requires the planting of street trees to follow general and specific tree planting plans the director approves, guided by standards including using listed species except for experimental plantings with specific director approval, siting trees at suitable intervals to avoid interfering with utilities, driveway approaches, street intersections, and building exposures, and choosing species based on planting strip width, soil conditions, zoning, street patterns, setbacks, utilities, and future underground wiring.

040 lets a majority of abutting property owners on a block petition the director for a uniform tree variety of their choice from the official list, or lets 90 percent of a block's owners petition to change the existing planting strip variety, with the requesting owners bearing all costs of the change, done under the director's supervision.