Sarasota County, FL Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Under County Code § 54-589, part of the consolidated Tree Protection article (Ord. No. 2011-023, Chapter 54, Article XVIII), any private installation of trees or landscaping within a County right-of-way triggers two paperwork requirements before a shovel goes in the ground: a Right-of-Way Use Permit and a separate maintenance agreement with the County. That agreement can require the property owner to carry insurance and post performance assurances, because a tree planted in the parkway strip becomes the County's responsibility to protect once it roots there.

The code defines a "Street Tree" as any tree with any part of its trunk located in County transportation right-of-way, whether it was planted under the County's own Street Tree program, planted through a cooperative Residential Street Tree Program with a homeowners' association, or simply grew there naturally. Placement is not left to guesswork: a canopy tree must be set no less than 8 feet and no more than 15 feet from the right-of-way line when the County Administrator determines that spacing is feasible, and every planting, canopy or otherwise, must clear a 3-foot setback from any property line and a 6-foot setback from utility lines and County easements.

Species that will interfere with overhead or underground utility lines at maturity cannot be planted near them at all. The Administrator can also designate a road a "Canopy Road," which layers on additional preservation standards under § 54-590, including a minimum 50 percent overhead canopy coverage requirement and a 75 percent native/naturalized species composition standard for that segment.