Mount Pleasant, SC Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 156.702(A)(1) states plainly that prior to removal of any protected, significant, or historic tree, the applicant must obtain a tree removal permit issued by the Zoning Administrator, an approved clearing and grading permit, or any other applicable tree removal permit. Section 156.702(A)(2) requires the application to be submitted with the required fee, and Town staff may demand a replacement plan be reviewed and approved before the permit itself is issued. Where full on-site replanting is not possible, § 156.702(A)(3) lets an applicant pay a fee in lieu of planting replacement trees, but that payment must clear before the removal permit is issued.

Removing a boundary tree needs written consent from every owner sharing the tree under § 156.702(A)(5), and § 156.702(A)(6) blocks a new permit on any property carrying unresolved mitigation from an earlier removal. Once issued, § 156.702(B) requires the permit or authorizing document to be displayed somewhere obvious, such as a window or storm door, during the removal work; skipping that posting is itself a separate violation under § 156.709. Replacement obligations follow the tree's caliper inches under § 156.702(C): a developed site generally must plant one 2.5-inch-caliper replacement on site within six months of permit issuance, using species drawn from the mitigation table and meeting the size and quality standards in §§ 156.584 and 156.585, though no replacement is owed for a tree removed as an invasive species.