Alameda County, CA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Alameda County Code § 12.11.120
- Responsible party
- adjacent property owner
- Covers
- strip between property line and street
- County authority
- director may plant, prune, or remove
Summary
Planting, maintaining, or removing a tree in the county right-of-way strip between the property line and the paved street is the adjacent owner's job in unincorporated Alameda County.
The planting, maintenance, removal, or replacement of any tree located in the right-of-way between the private property line and the edge of the paved street shall be the responsibility of the adjacent property owner on whose frontage the tree is located irrespective of who planted said tree. It is a public nuisance for such property owners to fail to maintain, to injure, to improperly remove or improperly fail to remove, or to conduct unauthorized planting of trees in the right-of-way. The adjacent property owner shall bear all costs of such planting, maintenance, removal, and replacement and shall restore the right-of-way if the right-of-way is disturbed in the course of such planting, maintenance, removal, or replacement.B.The director shall have the authority to monitor, inspect, maintain, remove, plant, or repair any tree located in the right-of-way, if necessary to further the goals of this chapter and/or protect the public health, safety or welfare. (Ord. No. 2016-66, § 1, 12-16-16)
Full Breakdown
Section 12.11.120 assigns responsibility for any tree in the strip between the private property line and the edge of the paved street, the parkway, to the adjacent property owner, regardless of who originally planted it, throughout unincorporated Alameda County's roads. The owner bears the cost of planting, maintaining, removing, or replacing that tree and must restore the right-of-way if it's disturbed, and the county's public works director may also monitor, inspect, plant, or remove a right-of-way tree directly when needed to protect public health, safety, or welfare.
Violations & Fines
Failing to maintain, injuring, improperly removing, or planting without authorization in the parkway strip is declared a public nuisance under Section 12.11.120.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who plants and pays for street trees in front of my unincorporated Alameda County home?
What if I don't maintain the tree?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Alameda County
California rules heatmap·Compare Alameda County to another location·View the California tree protection overview
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