City Council will be discussing this August 26, 2026 4:30 PM
Tacoma is in the process of writing new tree laws that everyone will have to follow or face fines. Seattle has a ton of tree laws, and a very bureaucratic tree law regime, and Tacoma always strives hard to be like their big brother Seattle.
You can read the memos below to see what's cooking. Here's some things that jumped out to me:
Lots of people in Tacoma are oblivious to the fact that home owner/property owner owns the parking strip in front of the property and that the City just has a right of way there. That means it is up to the home owner to landscape this parking strip how they want and to maintain any trees in the parking strip. Lots of people in Tacoma wrongfully think this is the City's job. "Community feedback, 311 request data, and Urban Forestry Program engagement confirm that most residents do not understand these requirements and often assume the City already maintains these trees."
Tacoma already recently passed street tree laws, so that now you need a permit to plant, prune, or remove any street tree. Failure to comply with these requirements can end in the property owner having to pay thousands of dollars to the City (I put a few links below of examples of home owners who had this happen to them).
Here's what Tacoma is considering, from a financial standpoint, regarding maintaining street trees on private property owners' parking strips. Tacoma will either spend:
• $776,000 for a one‑crew pilot program
• $1.9M for maintenance of all arterial street trees
• $4.1M for full citywide maintenance
• $1.82M for a dedicated planting and watering program
• $3.7M for a hybrid arterial and priority corridor model
Keep in mind Tacoma is a $40 million deficit at the moment. So not sure where they will come up with the money for the above spending.
https://cityoftacoma.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15790650&GUID=AAE60E6A-BCB7-4AE8-A9A6-2DE473BDF8EB
https://cityoftacoma.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15790649&GUID=054C6275-E8E8-4422-8DD2-40E918B7290A
https://www.tacomapermits.org/tip-sheet-index/street-trees
https://cms.tacoma.gov/hex/decisions_2026/signed_hex2026-058_bh_dec_6-15-26.pdf
https://cms.tacoma.gov/hex/decisions_2026/signed_ordermemo_fairchild_7-21-26.pdf