Effingham County, GA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Effingham County's zoning ordinance folds its invasive-species ban into the street tree and landscaping standards that apply to every new R-2 duplex/townhome/narrow-lot subdivision and R-5 traditional-neighborhood-design subdivision approved by the Board of Commissioners (Zoning Ordinance §§ 5.6.6, 5.9.8). Developers must plant one small shrub every six linear feet and one large shrub every ten linear feet, plus one large canopy street tree on each side of the street for every 50 feet of frontage (medium trees every 40 feet, small trees every 30 feet where the verge is narrow).

Section 5.6.6(c) then locks down species choice: every tree must come from the county's tree list in zoning Section 3.4 or a comparable native or regionally adapted variety, and the section states flatly that no species the University of Georgia Extension Service classifies as invasive may be used, whether or not it appears on the county's own list. Property owners associations, not the county, inherit ongoing watering, feeding and pruning duties for the trees once installed. Enforcement runs through Section 5.6.6.1: Development Services can issue a notice of violation and order a developer or association to plant or replace noncompliant trees at its own cost, and the code warns that repeated violations escalate to fines set under the general county fine schedule.

Because the rule is written into the subdivision design standards rather than a stand-alone invasive-plant chapter, it binds new residential plats, not existing yards or agricultural land, and it is enforced at plan review and final inspection rather than through routine patrol.