Monterey, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Monterey City Code § 37-7 governs parkway and street-tree planting directly: planting anything but ground cover in the improved City right-of-way, sidewalk area, or in parks requires prior permission from the Park Superintendent. Granting that permission is discretionary rather than automatic, the Park Superintendent may impose conditions such as continued maintenance by the applicant, may dictate the type of plant material allowed, and may fix the exact planting location. The stated reasons for that control are practical: avoiding an added maintenance burden on the City and preventing planting that would interfere with vehicular movement and parking, which matters on the narrow parkway strips found throughout Monterey's residential streets.

This sits alongside the City's own right to remove and prune right-of-way trees under § 37-4, and alongside the separate permit-required regime in § 37-3 for cutting, pruning or removing anything already growing in a City-owned park, green belt or public area. Because the parkway strip is public right-of-way, a homeowner cannot treat it like a private yard: even adding a small ornamental tree next to the sidewalk in front of a house needs the Park Superintendent's sign-off first, and the permission can come with conditions the applicant must keep meeting after planting, not just at the time of approval.