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Boulevard Maintenance
Defining Boulevards
The boulevard is the section of land between the property line and the edge of the pavement or curb of the road. Property owner(s) and residents are required to maintain the City boulevard bordering their property, where it borders the front, back or sides of the property. This includes the maintenance and upkeep of separated boulevards, which is the area between the curb and the sidewalk.
The boulevard is a public space. Underground utilities such as water mains, storm mains, sanitary mains, hydro and gas lines share the boulevard. City staff or utility companies require access to maintain these underground utilities, or for other purposes such as to build new sidewalks, install street signs, or prune street trees.
Importance
Boulevards are important features because:
- Invasive plants in boulevards can spread to other areas
- Obstacles can restrict pedestrians and people in wheelchairs or with strollers
- Overgrown vegetation can cause sight-line issues
- Their landscaping and maintenance affects the overall look and feel of the street
- There can be an increase in peak flows in creeks and ravines if there is overuse of impervious materials
Landscaping Options
Residents have options regarding how their boulevards are landscaped, but need to ensure that:
- Aesthetics are preserved
- Impervious areas are limited
- Parking is not impacted
- Pedestrians have safe access
- Sight lines are protected
- Street trees are protected
Plantings in boulevards (trees, shrubs, flowers, and grass) are valuable amenities that greatly enhance the aesthetics and health of our neighbourhoods.
Plantings in boulevards (trees, shrubs, flowers, and grass) are valuable amenities that greatly enhance the aesthetics and health of our neighbourhoods. However, certain policies need to be followed for safety, environmental and aesthetic reasons:
- A distance of 0.3 metres beside the roadway must be clear, to allow people to open doors to exit vehicles.
- Grass must not exceed 15 centimetres in height.
- Invasive plants and noxious weeds are not permitted.
- Landscaping should be drought resistant and be watered enough to maintain plant health.
- No food crops, berries, fruit, vegetables or other attractants for bears.
- No pesticides are permitted.
- Shrubs should be maintained at a maximum height of 0.9 metres.
- Sidewalks and multi-use pathways must be kept clear.
- Sightlines for pedestrians and drivers must be kept clear at crosswalks, roads, lanes, and driveways.
- Where shrubs are within 3.0 metres of the edge of a roadway or 2.0 metres from a driveway, the maximum height is 0.6 metres.
City staff or other agencies may require access to a City boulevard to view, repair or construct infrastructure. In such cases, boulevard landscaping may not get restored with the original materials, where materials other than grass have been installed.
Snow and ice must be removed from the sidewalk within 10 hours of the end of a snowfall or ice forming.
Please visit our Winter Wise program page for further information regarding resident responsibilities and to report an area of concern.
Visit our Chafer Beetle page for information on how to deal with European Chafer beetle, an invasive insect that can cause damage to lawns.
- Construction of any structures is not permitted, including fences, new retaining walls, rails, stairs, planters, raised garden beds, rockeries and irrigation systems. Please refer to Schedule A in the Boulevard Maintenance Bylaw No. 4853, 2018 (PDF) for specific details.
- No paving with asphalt, concrete or any other impervious surface is permitted, other than for driveways, walkways and some shoulder areas, and only with written permission from the City Engineering and Public Works Department.
- No signage on the boulevard is allowed except as outlined in the City of Coquitlam Sign Bylaw.
Rocks, gravel, pebbles, bark mulch or other loose landscaping or surfacing materials on a boulevard must be contained and kept off any adjacent sidewalk, multi-use pathway, walking path or roadway. Please refer to Schedule A in the Boulevard Maintenance Bylaw No. 4853, 2018 (PDF) for specific details.
Do not dispose of any vegetation cuttings, debris, discarded materials or any liquid or solid waste. The following must be removed from the boulevard:
- Litter of any kind (including debris around a bus stop)
- Garbage (other than garbage carts, etc. correctly placed at curbside for weekly or bi-weekly garbage, recycling and organic waste pickup)
- Accumulations of:
- Branches and twigs
- Grass clippings
- Leaves
- Soil
- Other vegetation or landscape materials
- Vegetation that grows between the cracks on the top of the sidewalk
- Any other objects that would pose a hazard to anyone using the adjacent sidewalk
Policies
- City-maintained trees should only be pruned by City Parks, Recreation and Culture Department staff. Where a non-City-maintained tree or hedge is overhanging a sidewalk, or a multi-use pathway, the property owner is responsible for providing a vertical clearance of 2.5 metres for pedestrians and other users.
- No one can cut down or remove a tree on any boulevard without permission from the City Parks, Recreation and Culture Department.
- No trees can be planted without written permission of the City Parks, Recreation and Culture Department.
- Trees need to be trimmed in lanes to provide a vertical clearance of 4.5 metres to allow access for service vehicles.
Contact Us
Please phone the City Parks, Recreation and Culture Department at 604-927-6300 for any tree-related enquires.
- Keep plants and soil clear of utility covers so work crews can easily locate and access them.
- Please call your local utility company for vegetation growing around power, cable, telephone or any other utility wires, for advice.
- Call before you dig! Call BC One Call 800-474-6886 or visit the BC1C website.
- Do not dig down more than 15 centimetres to avoid utilities.
- Vegetation must be kept clear of any utility pole, traffic signal, street light, fire hydrant, City sign or other structure. A minimum clearance of 1.0 metres must be maintained so the structure is visible and accessible from the street and sidewalk.