information
Portland is a Sanctuary City

Find sanctuary city resources from the City of Portland's Immigrant & Refugee Program, including free legal services and state resources for reporting hate crimes, bias incidents, discrimination, and violations of Oregon's sanctuary laws.

Street Tree or Private Tree?

Information
What is a Street Tree? How can I find out if a tree is a Private Tree or Street Tree? View a series of photos to learn more.

Street Trees

Image of street trees
Street trees planted in an improved right-of-way with curb and sidewalk.

A Street tree is any tree growing in the City's right-of-way (ROW), or strip of land near City streets.

Care and maintenance of Street Trees in the right-of-way is the responsibility of the closest bordering) property owner (adjacent).

See Trees and Street Visibility, Clearances, Sidewalks, and Safety for basic maintenance requirements and contact information.

Example Right-of-ways

Right of way line beyond the sidewalk example
The yellow line in the photo marks the edge of the right-of-way. The Green box in the photo says, "The right-of-way can extend beyond the sidewalk, in this case 1 foot."

Right-of-Way sizes vary. Generally, the right-of-way strip begins at the curb and includes the sidewalk. The right-of-way boundary can extend past the sidewalk and towards private property by varying amounts. 

street trees on both sides of a sidewalk
The yellow line in the photo marks the boundary of the right-of-way. The yellow arrows highlight trees on both sides of the sidewalk. In this case, both trees are in the right-of-way and considered Street Trees.

As the distance past the sidewalk and towards private property varies, see Using PortlandMapsfor directions on viewing property outlines.  

A tree that straddles the line between private property and the right-of-way is considered a Street Tree. 

unimproved ROW trees
Trees planted in an unimproved right-of-way with no curb or sidewalk. These are considered Street Trees.

A right-of-way can be with or without a sidewalk.

A right-of-way without a sidewalk is termed "unimproved." 

A right-of-way with a sidewalk is "improved."

Aright-of-way without a planting strip between the street and the sidewalk.

Private Trees

Example of Private Tree
​​​​​​Example of a tree on private property and not in the street right-of-way

A Private Tree is a tree located on private property, and does not straddle the right-of-way line. 

For more information, see:

Do I Need a Permit to Remove Trees on Private Property?

Private Property Tree Replacement Lists and Requirements

Overlay Zone or Plan District

Private property trees of any size may require a permit for removal in certain environmental overlay zones and plan districts. See the Overlay Zone Map for directions on finding the Overlay Zone and Plan District based by address.

See something we could improve on this page? Give website feedback.

Back to top