Tree Protection in Chapel Hill, NC (2026)
3 verified tree protection rules for Chapel Hill, North Carolina, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Heritage & Protected Trees
Chapel Hill has no heritage-tree ordinance in the usual sense, but the Land Use Management Ordinance lets property owners voluntarily register rare trees, those thirty-six inches or more in trunk diameter for pines, twenty-four inches for other species, or trees the Town Council has cited as historically significant. Registration under Section 5.7.6 survives a sale and earns free consultation with the town's urban forester.
Chapel Hill Rare Tree Voluntary Registration
Light RestrictionsChapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance § 5.7.6(a), (c)
5.7.6 Rare and Specimen Trees.(a)Rare and specimen tree defined. With the exception of invasive exotic species listed in subsection 5.7.6.(d),(1)A rare tree is:i.Any healthy living pine tree that has a trunk diameter of thirty-six (36) inches or more, or any other species that:ii.Has a trunk diameter at breast height (dbh) of twenty-four (24) inches or more; or ... vi.Has been cited by the town...
Protected Tree Species
Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance sets diameter thresholds that make a tree a protected specimen tree: eighteen inches for pines, twelve inches diameter at breast height for other species, six inches for the ordinance's listed North Carolina native genera such as dogwood, redbud and beech. Section 5.7.6(a)-(b) requires these trees be surveyed on development sites and limits their removal.
Chapel Hill Protects Specimen Trees by Diameter
Some RestrictionsChapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance § 5.7.6(a)-(b)
5.7.6 Rare and Specimen Trees.(a)Rare and specimen tree defined. ... (2)A specimen tree is:i.Any healthy living pine tree that has a trunk diameter of eighteen (18) inches or more, or any other species that:ii.Has a trunk diameter at breast height (dbh) of twelve (12) inches or more; oriii.A trunk dbh of six (6) inches or more in the case of the North Carolina native species from a following li...
Parkway Planting
Planting trees or shrubs in a Chapel Hill public street right-of-way needs the town manager's authority under Code of Ordinances Section 17-98. In town center districts and along thoroughfare-plan streets a free permit is required, and plantings elsewhere may not block the sidewalk strip or intersection sight lines.
Chapel Hill Street Right-of-Way Tree Planting
Light RestrictionsChapel Hill Code of Ordinances § 17-98
(a)All existing plantings of trees and shrubs on public rights-of-way and all future additions and substitutions of such plantings shall be under the authority and direction of the town manager or his duly authorized representative. ... (2)Trees or shrubs may be planted on the public street right-of-way of any other public street of a variety and in a location desired by the abutting property o...
Looking for Orange County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Chapel Hill city rules.
Tree Protection in Orange County →