Jefferson County, AL Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 1303 of the Jefferson County Zoning Regulations governs landscaping tied to off-street parking developments, and its 'Existing Trees' provision is the county's operative tree-replacement rule. A developer who preserves a healthy existing tree of an approved species inside a required landscape area receives credit toward the planting quota equal to one and one-half trees, but only if the trunk measures at least four inches in caliper, and only after the Department of Development Services reviews and approves the preservation method. That credit is not a free pass: once a tree is counted toward the landscape plan, whether newly planted or preserved, it is subject to the same maintenance and replacement requirements as newly planted trees.

Elsewhere in the same section, the code spells out what that duty means in practice, dead and dying plants must be replaced during the following planting season, and newly installed deciduous shade trees must start at a two-inch caliper, with small ornamentals at least six feet tall. Compliance is checked twice: once at site-plan certification before construction, and again before an Occupancy Permit is issued, when the Department confirms the approved Landscape Plan, including any credited existing trees and any required replacements, has actually been installed.

A developer who cannot finish planting before occupancy may instead post a cash deposit or surety equal to the installation cost plus 20 percent, guaranteeing completion within six months; unused funds are returned once the work, including any tree replacement, is done. Because this rule lives inside the parking-lot landscaping article, it applies to commercial, institutional and multifamily site plans reviewed by Development Services, not to routine tree removal on an ordinary single-family residential lot.