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

5(B) of the Unified Development Code sets the landscaping standards that apply to any new construction or expansion within the Coal Mountain Overlay District, the area shown on the county's Official Overlay District Map along the Coal Mountain community in northern Forsyth County. lobata), Chinese and Japanese privet, English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose, mimosa, princess tree and Chinese tallow tree, alongside ornamentals the county singles out such as sacred bamboo and golden bamboo. The same subsection requires landscape plans to be submitted to the Planning and Community Development Department for design review before work proceeds, and item (8) requires certification by a registered landscape architect, certified arborist, or registered forester at the time of landscape plan submittal, plus a contractor certification that installed material matches the approved plan; both certifications must be filed before the county will approve the as-built plan or final plat.

Property owners stay on the hook afterward: item (8) makes the owner responsible for maintaining required landscaping, and any dead or damaged plant material in a landscaped area must be replaced with a similar species within one month, or up to six months if weather prevents replanting sooner. Because this list sits inside the overlay's site design standards, it binds new development and substantial improvements, not every existing yard in the overlay, and it does not reach unincorporated Forsyth County outside the mapped overlay boundary.