Tucson, AZ Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

City Code Sec. " That pedestrian area is defined in Sec. 1(1) as the strip from the private property line to the curb, or to the traveled roadway where there is no curb. Applicants complete a city engineer form (Sec. 1(3)); if the applicant is an HOA or neighborhood association, it must also get the abutting property owner's written permission before planting adjacent to that owner's frontage. Sec. 1(4) sets the substantive standards: applicants follow the same excavation-application process as Sec. 25-13, submitting a site plan showing curb lines, property lines, utilities and driveways.

Sight-visibility rules bar any tree, shrub or vegetation taller than 30 inches at maturity within a sight-visibility triangle inside 50 feet of a stop sign, yield sign, traffic signal or intersection approach, and vegetation must stay trimmed for continuous visibility of a stop or yield sign for 125 feet. Trees must be kept clear between 30 and 80 inches above ground to preserve sight lines and a barrier-free path, and vegetation must be trimmed to leave a minimum four-foot-wide pedestrian path. The planting strip itself must be at least four feet wide from curb to sidewalk (eight feet clear from pavement where there is no curb).

0 drought-tolerant list, both maintained by the city engineer with copies on file at the city clerk's office; the city engineer, after consulting parks and recreation, can require different species based on site constraints. Permits may have fees waived at the city engineer's discretion (Sec. 1(6)(a)), but the city can revoke the permit and remove the plantings without compensation if the space is needed or the permittee fails to maintain them, and the abutting owner must agree in writing to maintain and trim whatever is planted.