Santa Fe, NM Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

2(L) of the Santa Fe City Code, 'Landscaping plans shall be submitted for all roadway medians and all parkway strips' as part of infrastructure design review. The plan must include the proposed location, size and type of vegetation or xeriscaping, including street trees, shrubs, ground cover, or other proposed ground treatment, and it must conform to the city's broader landscaping regulations. The land use director reviews the placement of proposed plantings against sight-distance and other safety criteria before signing off, since a parkway strip sits between the curb and the sidewalk in the public right-of-way.

Plans must also show any irrigation system needed to establish the roadway landscaping. Once approved, the plan is not just paperwork: the developer must implement it at their own cost as part of the road construction contract, and the code requires all materials to be 'maintained and guaranteed by the developer for a minimum of one year or until established,' shifting the establishment risk onto the builder rather than the city. The section further directs that plans 'should comply with Resolution 2010-66, Landscape Design Guidelines for Medians and Planting Strips,' giving the planning division a design standard to measure submittals against beyond the bare code text. 3 SFCC 1987 (Weeds) and Section 23-3 SFCC 1987 for curb, gutter and sidewalk upkeep standards.