Redwood City, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Under City Code Sec. 241, the trigger for street tree planting is any of three events on a lot's street frontage: construction of a new building, substantial commercial remodeling, or replacement/repair of the adjacent sidewalk. Where any of those happen, the property owner must dig four-square-foot street tree wells, install grates and frames, and plant 24-inch box trees spaced every 30 feet on average along the entire street frontage, skipping only the driveway cuts. The tree grate and well must conform to the City's Engineering Standards, and irrigation must be run to each well unless the City grants a written exemption.

The City picks the tree species for each location, but the property owner is on the hook for watering it going forward. The requirement is not citywide by default: Sec. 241 lists the specific street segments where it applies, including the full length of El Camino Real within Redwood City and the entire length of Woodside Road except along the expressway, plus block-by-block segments of streets such as Broadway, Main Street, Middlefield Road, Veterans Boulevard, Whipple Avenue, and Winslow Street. Any work in the public right-of-way to install these tree wells requires a permit under Sec.

243, issued by the Department of Community Development Services/Engineering and Construction after plans are submitted and approved. This street tree article sits inside Chapter 18's frontage-improvement package alongside curb/gutter/sidewalk repair (Sec. 238) and street paving (Sec. 239), so a remodel that triggers one of those obligations typically triggers street tree planting at the same time if the parcel sits on a listed street.