Kill Devil Hills, NC Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

073(M) controls what happens to those trees. The town itself may remove existing trees within its rights-of-way at any time under division (M)(1). A property owner or agent who wants to do the same must follow the process in (M)(2): the work has to be tied to an approved site plan, such as a new driveway, fit an approved restoration plan replacing removed trees at a one-to-one ratio consistent with the chapter's buffer standards in division (F)(2)(b) and Appendix A, or fall under an approved plan for thinning or removing dead or diseased trees.

Division (M)(3) adds the procedural step that catches most homeowners off guard: before anything comes down, the owner or agent must hold an on-site meeting with a member of town staff to identify every tree marked for removal, and those trees get flagged on site and noted on the site plan. Only after the site plan is approved does the Planning and Inspections Department issue the tree removal permit, and that permit is good for just 180 days from issuance before it lapses and the process has to start over.

The chapter carves out one exception that needs no permit at all: brush, vines and any tree under two inches in diameter measured at four and a half feet above existing grade can be cleared without restriction.