Carroll County, GA Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Carroll County's tree protection is narrow and tied to subdividing land, not to an existing homeowner's yard. Chapter 86, Article VIII sets design standards for greenspace lands in new subdivisions, and section 86-142(3) addresses woodlands specifically. It requires the subdivider to have any woodlands on a tract proposed for greenspace lands evaluated by a forester, landscape architect, horticulturist, arborist or another qualified professional acceptable to the director, looking at configuration and size, present condition, site potential, ecological function and the tract's relationship to woodlands on neighboring properties; that evaluation becomes part of the preliminary plat application.

The design standard that follows directs that healthy woodlands over one acre be preserved and designated as greenspace to the maximum extent possible, with site improvements located and built to minimize loss or degradation of woodland areas, and it limits disturbance or removal of woodlands in environmentally sensitive areas to cases a qualified professional recommends, done on a limited, selective basis. 4 bars any clearing or earth disturbance on the site, other than soil analysis for a proposed community wastewater system, before the preliminary plat is approved and any required development agreements are in place. Section 86-144 folds healthy woodlands and specimen trees into the county's ranked list of resources a greenspace plan must try to conserve.