Cherokee County, GA Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Sec. 3 of the Tree Preservation and Replacement Ordinance defines a heritage tree as one Cherokee County determines has unique value to the public because of its size, age, historic association, rare species or ecological value, or any tree already recognized as a Georgia, United States or World Champion by the American Forestry Association. Any person may nominate a tree, but the county needs the property owner's written consent before designating it, and the Board of Commissioners makes the designation only after the Arborist certifies the tree's health and root growing space are adequate; the Arborist then maintains a registry of designated heritage trees and notifies the owner in writing once a designation is approved.

The homeowner exemption in Sec. 3, which otherwise lets individual single-family and duplex owners remove trees on their own lot without a land disturbance permit, expressly does not apply once a tree is noted as heritage. Sec. 10-3 give heritage trees priority for preservation on development sites, with extra tree density credit for saving them and mandatory orange tree-save fencing during construction. Sec. 3 sets the penalty for violating that protection: an immediate stop-work order, a fine of not less than $1,000, and replacement planting at eight times the density unit value of the removed or damaged tree, calculated from the Appendix C, Table A density chart, on top of the general penalties authorized for any ordinance violation under Sec. 4-1.