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Right tree, right place**
Tacoma has standards that must be followed to ensure clearance over streets and sidewalks, open sight lines, and unhindered utilities. This is to keep Tacoma safe and beautiful for everyone. Please see the following table for the standards. For recommended species, check out our residential, utility, and commercial lists.
Do you need help with tree selection? Check out our Demystifying the Art of Tree Selection. As always, call before you dig!
Tree owners manual
City standards require 14 feet of vertical clearance over the full width of streets for vehicles, and 8 feet over the full width of sidewalks for pedestrians to be clear of vegetation (tree limbs, grass, shrubs, etc).
Please note that street signage (which can include regulatory, warning, transit, and other city installed signs) shall be clearly visible. Vegetation planted in the right-of-way shall not obstruct sight of signs or sight distance at corners in order to clearly view pedestrians and traffic.
This can usually be accomplished with trees by ensuring they are planted the proper distance from the corner and meet vertical clearance requirements, and ensuring that vegetation other than trees be kept at a height of 3 feet or lower, depending on the geography of the location. Generally speaking, there should be no vegetation growing in between the heights of 3 and 8 feet to create a "window" of visibility for traffic.
|
From Infrastructure |
Distance (Feet) |
|
Street Corner* |
25 |
|
STOP and Yield Signs* |
25 |
|
Streetlight Poles |
15 |
|
Driveways |
5 |
|
Fire Hydrants |
10 |
|
Pavement (curb, sidewalk, street, alley) |
2 |
| Storm/Sewer Inlets |
5 |
| Utility Worker Access Lids and underground utilities |
5 |
| Water/Gas Shut-Off Valves |
4 |
| Other Traffic Control Signs (not STOP or Yield signs) |
5 |
| Other Trees |
20-35 |
Some trees are not allowed as street trees in Tacoma
We believe the following trees are not good street trees (and therefore are prohibited) for various reasons: some species have aggressive roots (bad for sewers and sidewalks) and some have brittle wood that doesn’t handle our wind storms well. For more information, please see Tacoma Municipal Code Chapter 9.19. This list may be updated at any time at the discretion of the City’s Public Works Department.
- Poplar/Cottonwood (Populus sp.)
- Willow (Salix sp.)
- Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia )
- Nut Trees and Fruit Trees (including some ornamental types to be determined by the Director)
- Any other tree which breeds disease dangerous to other trees or to public health, or having growth characteristics similar to those set forth above.
For our Recommended Street Tree Lists, go to Quick Links. Click here for our Not Recommended Street Tree List (trees that aren't prohibited but they aren't recommended either).
The City of Tacoma does allow raised beds to be constructed in the rights-of-way. A No-fee Street Occupancy Permit is required at this time. This permit can be obtained by contacting Real Property Services. Raised beds need to meet the following standards:
-
Maximum height for the built raised bed is 2 feet.
-
All raised beds shall be setback from the curb and sidewalk a minimum of 2 feet.
-
All raised beds shall provide pedestrian access to the sidewalk with a minimum of 3 feet width between sections.
Landscaping in Tacoma's right-of-way brochure
For more information about planting, please see the "Before you Plant" packet. For more information about planting trees in the right-of-way, please visit our tree work permit page.
**Please note that the above information applies to trees in the right-of-way only, not to private property.
E-mail contact for this page: trees@cityoftacoma.org 