Berkeley County, SC Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Berkeley County's tree-removal permit requirement applies specifically to trees inside a required landscape bufferyard, defined and sized in article 17. 6. 8, it shall be unlawful to remove any protected or specimen tree within the bufferyard area without a permit, and the county treats each removed tree as its own violation, with each protected or specimen tree removed constituting a separate violation, so clearing five specimen trees without a permit is five separate misdemeanor counts, not one. 8 imposes a mandatory replanting ratio: three new trees of at least three-inch caliper for every protected tree removed unlawfully, and five new trees of at least three-inch caliper for every specimen tree removed unlawfully.

1 lets the county assume the number removed equals three times what the buffer would otherwise have required to be planted, using that figure as the basis for penalties. Failing to complete the required replanting carries its own consequence: the county will hold all review and approval of building permits, certificates of occupancy, and all future phases or development plans until the violation is rectified, effectively freezing the site.