Taylorsville, UT Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Section 13.21.120, Buffering Along Streets, sits in the Subdivision Design Standards chapter and governs residential developments that abut an arterial, major collector or minor collector street. New residential development on such a street must improve the full length of frontage rather than letting individual lots access the arterial directly, and the Planning Commission can require a 6-foot barrier wall (up to 8 feet where soil retention is needed) built of block, brick or concrete with concrete strips at its base to close gaps against sidewalks.

Between that wall and the roadway, curb, gutter and sidewalk must meet city engineer specifications, and a landscaped buffer between the sidewalk and street curb is required to city standards. To fit street trees, the standard is an 8-foot park strip plus a 5-foot sidewalk; a developer may seek a reduced width based on the project's size, scale and nature and the improvements on adjacent properties, but the cross-section cannot fall below 10 feet total, split 5 feet of park strip and 5 feet of sidewalk, and a tighter strip may push tree planting behind the sidewalk instead.

The buffer area needs its own sprinkler system sufficient to maintain the landscaping, approved by the director, and the Planning Commission can require an additional landscaped buffer with its own sprinkling and water connections between the sidewalk and barrier wall if the wall cannot practically abut the sidewalk. Every landscape design submitted under this section must include provisions or plans for its own perpetual maintenance.