Jefferson County, AL Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

The rule sits in the Minimum Landscaping Requirements for Off-Street Parking article of the Zoning Regulations, which applies whenever a parking lot has, or is expanded to reach, twelve or more spaces. Under the "Shade Trees" subsection, location and maintenance are governed together: trees must be massed or strategically spaced so they do not interfere with utilities, roadways, sidewalks, sight easements or street lights, and the tree location, design and spacing plan must be approved by the Director of Development Services as part of the Landscape Plan submitted with the site plan.

Once a shade tree reaches adequate size, its lower branches must be trimmed and kept at a minimum height of eight feet above finished grade, which keeps the canopy clear of pedestrians on adjoining sidewalks and vehicles moving through the lot and abutting roadway. This is a commercial and multi-family site-development standard tied to landscape plan approval, not a blanket residential yard-tree ordinance; the file supplied for Jefferson County contains no separate street-tree or sidewalk-clearance rule reaching private single-family lots outside a permitted parking area.

Existing healthy trees of at least four inches in caliper that are preserved within a required landscape area can count toward the planting requirement, and any tree credited that way is held to the same maintenance and replacement standard as newly planted stock.