Seattle, WA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

G governs parkway (planting-strip) tree planting for residential development inside Seattle. 015. An applicant can't pick trees freely: the SDCI Director, in consultation with the Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, determines the number, type and placement of the additional street trees, weighing public safety, compatibility with the existing street tree pattern, available planting-strip space, urban forest canopy goals, healthy growth spacing, utility protection, and continued access to the street, buildings and lot. Existing street trees on the frontage are protected, the ordinance requires they be retained unless SDOT itself approves removal, so an owner cannot cut down a mature parkway tree simply because it is inconvenient for a driveway or a view.

475 as the portion of the street lying between the constructed curb and the property line, excluding the sidewalk, or between a constructed sidewalk and the property line where there is no curb; where neither exists, no planting strip is deemed to exist. Where a lot borders an unopened right-of-way, SDCI may reduce or waive the street tree requirement as a Type I administrative decision after consulting SDOT if the right-of-way is unlikely to ever be opened or improved. Where planting in the right-of-way strip itself is not feasible, the code allows a substitute: a 5-foot setback planted with trees along the front lot line, or non-tree landscaping in the strip, both subject to SDOT approval, with an outright waiver available from the Director as a last resort. A-B, which excludes street trees from the point tables used for other required plantings on the lot.