Pismo Beach, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

The rules sit in Chapter 12.12 and turn on the city's approved "street tree list," which the City Council adopts from time to time by resolution (§ 12.12.010). For existing development, § 12.12.030(A) requires an application showing the number of trees, the location, grade and variety of each, and the planting method, and the director issues the permit when species and location conform to the street tree list. For new development, § 12.12.030(B) applies to a tentative map for a subdivision, a permit application for a commercial building or other structure, or a permit to plant more than ten trees: the applicant files a planting plan map and written statement in duplicate, the planning division refers the plan to the parks, recreation and beautification commission, and the planning commission gives final approval.

Section 12.12.040 sets the standards. Trees are of a mature size normally packaged in twenty-four-inch boxes, with thirty-six-inch or forty-eight-inch boxes required for some installations, at least one and one-half inch in trunk diameter one foot above ground and at least eight feet tall. The quoted clearance and spacing rules apply alongside a minimum of one tree per frontage parcel, and poor soil requires an excavated hole of not less than twenty-seven cubic feet refilled with suitable loam or compatible soil. In residential development zones, new trees must be of a type that will not exceed twenty-five feet in height at maturity as called out in the Sunset New Western Gardening Book.

Subdividers pay for trees, planting material, installation and irrigation, and the City Council can require a performance bond before approving a final subdivision map. Under § 12.12.050, owners of adjacent private property are responsible for watering trees, plants, grass, weed control and litter removal in the parkway.