Street Tree or Private Tree? Bay Area Responsibility

Half the tree calls I get start with the same uncertainty: "I think it's a city tree, but I'm not sure." Whether the tree between your sidewalk and the curb is yours or the city's decides who prunes it, who pays when roots lift the sidewalk, who issues the permit, and who gets sued when it falls. The answer changes at every city line in the Bay Area.

How to Tell a Street Tree from a Private Tree

The test is the property line, not the species or who watered it. Anything growing in the public right-of-way belongs to the public, and in most cities that makes it a street tree. Here is how I check on a site visit:

Planting strip. The strip of grass or bare soil between the sidewalk and the curb is almost always right-of-way. A tree there is a street tree. Berkeley puts it plainly: any tree "growing between the sidewalk and the street" is a City tree, regardless of who planted it.

Sidewalk tree wells and medians. Same rule. Palo Alto's definition of the street right-of-way lists "median islands, round-a-bouts, sidewalk tree wells and parking strips" and the city owns and maintains about 46,000 of these trees.

No sidewalk. This is where owners get surprised. Palo Alto's public-tree page notes that in neighborhoods without parking strips "the right-of-way usually extends several feet into the front yard." A tree 4 feet behind the curb on a street with no sidewalk may still be the city's. Walnut Creek's street tree article defines a street tree as any tree within 6 feet of the back of the sidewalk, or 11 feet from the curb where there is no sidewalk (WCMC 7-1.403).

Survey and parcel map. If it is close, pull your title survey or the county assessor's parcel map and measure from the curb face. The right-of-way width is on the recorded subdivision map. Several cities also publish a street tree inventory map (Berkeley and San Jose both do), and if the tree is in the inventory, the question is settled.

Ask the city. A call to the department in the table below gets an answer in a day or two, and in most cities an inspector will come out. Get it in writing before any contractor touches the tree.

Who Maintains a Street Tree

This is where the Bay Area splits three ways, and the split is written in each city's code.

The city maintains it. San Francisco is the clearest case. Since StreetTreeSF took effect on July 1, 2017, Public Works has been "maintaining and caring for all street trees," about 125,000 of them, and the program's own page says residents "do not need to prune trees themselves" (SF Public Works, StreetTreeSF). Before 2017 most of that burden sat on the fronting owner. Berkeley's Urban Forestry Unit maintains all City trees and makes "all determinations about whether a city tree will be pruned or removed." Palo Alto's Urban Forestry section maintains its public trees with in-house crews and contractors.

The adjacent owner maintains it. San Jose has run this way for 75 years. The city's tree page states that "since 1951 the municipal code has established that the property owner is responsible for the maintenance of the street tree(s) adjacent to their property," with the city keeping only medians, roadside landscapes and some special districts (San Jose DOT, Trees). The code itself says the owner "shall maintain and replace, if necessary, any street trees" fronting the lot, and defines maintenance to include watering, pruning, fertilizing, pest control and protection of the critical root zone (SJMC 13.28.400). Fremont wrote the duty into an article titled "Duty of Property Owners to Maintain Street Trees and Sidewalks." The owner of a lot with street frontage "must maintain the street trees and other landscaping growing along the frontage or in the street right-of-way adjacent to the lot" (FMC 12.30.200(a)).

Split duty. Walnut Creek takes the middle path. The City trims street trees it planted or required to be planted, but only as needed for the safe movement of pedestrians and traffic, and "all maintenance and additional trimming shall be the responsibility of the property owner." Trees the owner planted, or volunteers, are entirely the owner's (WCMC 7-1.410). Oakland is a practical rather than legal split. The code gives the City authority over street trees and makes it unlawful to maintain or remove one without a permit (OMC 12.32.060), and it places no maintenance duty on the owner. But the city's own fact sheet says tree watering, structural pruning and pollarding "were all eliminated" after 2008 and points residents to prune-your-own-street-tree guidelines (Oakland Tree Services FAQ).

The table at the end of this page records which model each of the 45 cities uses, with the code section where I could read it.

Who Pays for Sidewalk Damage

Start with state law. Streets and Highways Code 5610 says the owners of lots "fronting on any portion of a public street" shall "maintain any sidewalk in such condition that the sidewalk will not endanger persons or property." The duty covers the parking strip too. If the owner does not repair after notice, the city may do the work and record a lien for the cost under section 5614. That is the default everywhere in California, and it applies whether a tree root or a settling base lifted the slab.

Cities then adjust it, and the adjustments matter when the tree is theirs:

• San Francisco took the root-damage cost onto itself. StreetTreeSF "will also repair sidewalks that have been damaged by street trees."
• Berkeley keeps the owner's duty in BMC 16.04.010, which also says the owner "owes a duty to members of the public to keep said sidewalk in a safe condition" and is liable for injuries. But when a City tree is the cause, the City pays half under its 50-50 program, pays the full cost if the same tree does it again within 10 years, and on a third occurrence the owner may request removal (Berkeley Sidewalk Repair).
• Walnut Creek repairs "sidewalk damages caused by such street trees" where the City planted or required the tree; owners repair damage from trees they planted (WCMC 7-1.410).
• Fremont puts the whole sidewalk area on the owner, including "grinding, removal and replacement of sidewalks" (FMC 12.30.210), and separately requires owners to notify the city of damage from trees (12.30.220).
• Oakland defines the owner's sidewalk duty to include the parking strip, "tree root pruning and installing root barriers" (OMC 12.22.020(C)), so the City owns the tree and you own the roots where they meet the concrete.
• San Jose has owners pay but offers financial assistance for city-required work at owner-occupied single-family homes through its Trees and Sidewalks office.

If you are unsure which program applies, report the heave to the city first and keep the report number. In the cities that share cost, the report is what starts the clock.

Who Issues the Permit

Owning the maintenance duty does not give you the right to prune or remove. In every city in the table, work on a street tree needs the city's permission, and in most of them it is a different desk from the private-tree permit.

San Jose requires a permit before any street tree pruning, removal or planting, and the permit is free. Berkeley will only issue a street-tree permit to a state-licensed tree contractor with a Berkeley business license, insurance and (for pruning) an ISA Certified Arborist, and a City arborist still inspects and decides. San Francisco routes all street tree permits through the Bureau of Urban Forestry. Fremont's Urban Forestry Section handles both private protected trees and street trees. In cities such as Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Mateo and Mill Valley the private-tree permit sits with Planning or Community Development while street trees go to Public Works or Parks, so check the department column before you file.

Removing a street tree without a permit is treated at least as seriously as a private tree. In Fremont, the person who removes it and the adjoining owner are "jointly and severally liable for restitution" (FMC 12.30.180(c)). San Francisco's fines run $10,000 per tree or replacement value, whichever is greater. See the penalties by city page for the rest.

Liability When a Street Tree Falls

Who answers for a fallen street tree depends on who held the maintenance duty, and on notice.

If the city maintains the tree, a claim runs under Government Code 835. A public entity is liable for injury caused by "a dangerous condition of its property" if the condition created a foreseeable risk and the entity either created it or "had actual or constructive notice" in time to fix it. That is why a written report to the city about a leaning or decayed street tree matters so much: it is the notice. The claim must be presented within 6 months of the injury under Government Code 911.2, long before any lawsuit.

If the ordinance puts the duty on you, the city has usually written the liability to match. Fremont's code says an owner "owes a duty to members of the public" to keep street trees safe, that an owner who fails and causes injury "shall be liable to the person for the resulting damages," and that the city "shall have a cause of action for indemnity against a property owner" for anything the city has to pay (FMC 12.30.200(c) to (e)). San Jose's code says the owner required to maintain street trees "shall owe a duty to members of the public using streets to maintain such street trees ... in a safe and nonhazardous condition" (SJMC 13.28.400(B)). Berkeley's sidewalk section uses the same duty-to-the-public language for the pavement.

Either way, the practical steps are the same. Photograph the failure and the root plate before anyone cuts. Report it to the department in the table and keep the reference number. Open a claim with your own insurer for damage to your house or car. If you had reported the tree's condition before it fell, pull that record; it is the center of either kind of case. For damage from a neighbor's private tree, see California tree law for neighbor disputes.

35-City Table: Permits and Maintenance Duty

The department column is the office each city names for tree permits in my 45-city ordinance table; where the city splits street and private trees it says so. The maintenance column records whether the code places a duty on the adjacent owner to maintain street trees. "Not verified" means I could not read the relevant section as of October 2026, and you should ask the city rather than assume.

Questions I Get Asked

How do I know if the tree in front of my house is a city tree?

Measure from the curb. If the tree stands in the strip between the sidewalk and the street, in a sidewalk cutout, or in a median, it is in the public right-of-way and is a street tree. Where there is no sidewalk, the right-of-way can extend several feet past the curb, so check your survey or ask the city. Several cities keep a street tree inventory map you can search by address.

Can I prune or remove a street tree I am required to maintain?

Not without a permit. San Jose and Fremont both place maintenance on the adjacent owner and both still require a city permit before pruning, removal or planting. The permit is free in San Jose. Removing a street tree without one carries restitution and fines in every city in the table.

Who pays when street tree roots lift my sidewalk?

Under Streets and Highways Code 5610 the fronting owner maintains the sidewalk, and the city can repair and lien the property after notice. Several cities pay when their own tree caused the damage: San Francisco repairs it through StreetTreeSF, Berkeley pays half (and the full cost for a repeat within 10 years), and Walnut Creek repairs damage from trees the City planted or required. Fremont and San Jose leave the cost with the owner, with San Jose offering assistance to owner-occupied homes.

Can I sue the city if a street tree falls on my car?

You can file a claim under Government Code 835 if the tree was city-maintained, but you must show a dangerous condition the city knew or should have known about, and you must present the claim within 6 months under Government Code 911.2. Where the ordinance makes the adjacent owner responsible, as in Fremont, the claim may run against that owner instead. Start with your own insurer regardless.

The city planted the tree. Does that make it the city's responsibility?

Not by itself. Berkeley treats every tree in the planting strip as a City tree regardless of who planted it. Walnut Creek is the opposite case: who planted the tree decides the duty, with the City trimming trees it planted or required and owners maintaining the rest. San Jose places the duty on the owner either way. The code, not the planting history, controls.

Michael Schuck
ISA Certified Arborist WE-15750A · Certified Urban Forest Professional WE-15750AF
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