Taylor, TX Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Sec. 28-31(5) defines 'parkway' as the area along a public street between the curb and sidewalk, or, where there is no curb or sidewalk, the unpaved area between the street right-of-way line and the paved street or alley. Subsection f, 'Adjacent owner responsibility,' lets the owner of land next to a city street or highway plant and maintain trees in that adjacent parkway area, and makes the owner responsible for reasonable, routine maintenance of whatever trees and landscaping sit there. That permission comes with a limit: no property owner may allow a tree or other plant on their property or in the adjacent parkway to obstruct or interfere with pedestrians or a driver's view, creating what the section calls an obstruction hazard.

If the city's director finds an obstruction hazard, the owner gets a certified, return-receipt letter giving 15 days to abate it. If the owner does not comply in that window, the city can do the abatement work itself, bill the cost to the owner, and secure payment with a lien recorded against the property, on top of any other legal remedy. The same subsection bars planting anything but an approved ornamental species within 15 lateral feet of an overhead utility wire, and bars planting within the visibility triangle of an intersection or within ten feet of a fire hydrant, tying parkway planting back to the city's broader public tree standards.