James City County, VA Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

James City County's tree protection framework, division 4 of chapter 24, starts from a preservation default: § 24-88(c) states that outside impervious areas, trees may be removed only in accordance with §§ 24-98(f)(2) and (3), tying every removal back to the right-of-way landscape area standards. Under § 24-98(f)(2)(a), all viable mature trees of eight inches or greater diameter at breast height and specimen trees of 24 inches or greater DBH must be preserved within the required right-of-way landscape area, and every understory tree of two inches or greater DBH must also be preserved.

Removal of a tree above those thresholds is not automatic: § 24-98(f)(2)(b) requires the planning director or a designee to inspect the site and tag the tree before authorizing removal, and removal can be approved only if the tree is of poor quality, diseased, inconsistent with the planned plant design, poorly situated so it interferes with other viable trees or shrubs, a safety hazard, or a conflict with planned site improvements such as sidewalks or signs. This inspection-and-tagging step effectively functions as the county's tree removal permit for protected right-of-way buffer trees, layered on top of the site plan and landscape plan approval process required under § 24-87 for any development that triggers a landscape plan.