3 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in York County, South Carolina.
Verified from official government sources
York County requires a tree removal permit only for grand trees on land being developed or subdivided, under Land Development Code Section 154.200. An owner on an existing lot needs none. Rock Hill and Fort Mill run their own tree permits.
York County, S.C. Code § 154.200(B)
All grand trees must be retained on any development site except when: (1) Located entirely in the AGC or AGC-I Districts; (2) Developed principally as a public K-12 school; or (3) Developed principally as any government building.
York County protects "grand trees," its version of heritage trees, on land being developed under Land Development Code Section 154.200. Thresholds run from 24-inch DBH for most species down to 6 inches for dogwood-class trees, plus any state champion tree. Existing homeowners are unaffected.
York County, S.C. Code § 154.200(A)
A grand tree is a tree or group of trees considered to be important community assets due to their unique or noteworthy characteristics. A tree in fair or better health is considered a grand tree based on its species and size as shown in Table 154.200-1: Grand Trees. A grand tree includes any tree that appears on the South Carolina Champion Tree Inventory maintained by the Clemson University Dep...
When a grand tree is removed during development in unincorporated York County, Section 154.200 requires mitigation: extra tree-save area at 150 square feet per inch of DBH, replanting at 0.75:1, or a fee-in-lieu to the York County Tree Fund. Homeowners on existing lots face no replant rule.
York County, S.C. Code § 154.200(E)
(a) Preserving additional tree save area above the minimum required in § 154.199(A), at a rate of 150 sf per inch of DBH of the trees removed; (b) Planting new trees at a rate of 0.75:1 per inch of DBH of the trees removed; or (c) In cases where the total amount of additional tree save or planting is impractical or would compromise the health of preserved or planted trees, as determined by the ...
1 cities in York County have their own tree protection rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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