Chapel Hill, NC Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Section 5.7.6(d) of the Land Use Management Ordinance lists invasive exotic species that are not required to appear on a landscape protection plan regardless of their size, unlike the rare and specimen trees the rest of Section 5.7.6 protects. The listed species include Acer platanoides, Norway Maple, Albizia julibrissin, Mimosa, Broussonetia papyrifera, Paper Mulberry, Melia azadarach, Chinaberry, Morus alba, White Mulberry, Paulownia tomentosa, Princess Tree, Populus alba, White Poplar, and Pyrus calleryana, Callery or Bradford Pear, along with Tree of Heaven under the same subsection.

Two restrictions apply directly: none of these species can be planted in a public right-of-way, and none can be counted toward satisfying any town landscaping requirement, so a developer cannot use a stand of Bradford pears to meet required tree canopy coverage under Section 5.7.2. Beyond those two mandatory limits, the ordinance's language is a recommendation rather than a command, telling property owners and developers that these species are recommended for removal and replacement should they be identified on developing property, not that they must be removed.

The same prohibition on planting invasive exotic species in the right-of-way also appears in Section 5.7.4(b)(2), which governs trees in public rights-of-way generally and cross-references the Section 5.7.6(d) list directly. Planning and Development Services checks landscape protection plans and street tree planting plans against this list during zoning compliance permit review.