Sandy, UT Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Sandy City Code § 21-25-1, General Landscaping Standards, applies to all districts citywide, not just new subdivisions, and puts parkstrip maintenance squarely on the adjacent property owner unless Sandy City approves otherwise. Owners must remove all weeds, regardless of height, and debris, and must landscape and beautify the strip with approved streetscape materials. The section then sets the planting rule that governs whether a tree can go in at all: parkstrip planting may combine water efficient landscaping, street trees, and hardscape, but turf is only allowed in new development where the parkstrip is a minimum of eight feet wide, and trees may only be planted where the parkstrip is at least eight feet wide by eight feet long, set equidistant from the sidewalk and the curb and gutter within the planter bed.

Any parkstrip narrower than eight feet is barred from having trees at all. A separate clear-vision rule caps plantings within 15 feet of a driveway at three feet in height and requires tree canopies to hang at least eight feet above grade. Elsewhere in the same title, the standard road cross-section for new development calls for an eight-foot parkstrip paired with a five-foot sidewalk to accommodate a minimum two-inch caliper street tree measured six inches above grade, though a reduced ten-foot combined cross-section (five-foot parkstrip, five-foot sidewalk) is the floor, and trees may have to go in behind the sidewalk when the strip cannot fit them.

Placing concrete slabs or other impenetrable surfacing beyond approved hardscape, or installing permanent or temporary recreational equipment such as a basketball standard, is prohibited anywhere in the public right-of-way, including the parkstrip.