Apex, NC Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

The Apex UDO Article 8 (General Development Standards) governs Resource Conservation Areas (RCAs) and landscaping requirements. Section 8.1 establishes Resource Conservation Areas, and applicants must submit a Site and Tree Survey to the Planning Director as part of any development application so the Town can determine which categories of RCA apply to the site. Trees within a designated RCA, within required landscape material under Section 8.2 (Landscaping, Buffering, and Screening), within a required buffer yard, or shown for retention on an approved site plan or plat may not be removed without Town approval. Outside those development triggers — i.e., on an established single-family residential lot not in an RCA — Apex does not impose a routine tree-removal permit on healthy private trees. The Town's authority is further limited by NCGS 160D-921, which prohibits local regulation of forestry activity on forestland taxed on present-use value under NCGS Article 12, Chapter 105, and forestry conducted under a registered forester's plan, except in connection with development. The same statute lets Apex deny a building permit or refuse a site/subdivision plan for up to three years following a timber harvest that removes substantially all the trees that were protected under local development regulations.