Gaithersburg, MD Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Section 22-9(b) does not create a citywide landmark-tree registry; instead it forces priority retention during the site plan, subdivision or sediment-control review that already triggers Chapter 22. 5 feet above ground, or 75 percent of the diameter of the current state-champion tree of its species as designated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, must be left undisturbed unless the applicant proves to the planning commission, mayor and city council that reasonable efforts to protect it were made and the project genuinely cannot be redesigned around it.

A separate clause protects trees inside a locally designated historic site, resource or district, or trees named a national, state or local champion: those trees trigger a historic area work permit reviewed by the city's historic district commission before any work can proceed. Section 22-12 supplies the only escape valve, a written variance request to the planning commission or city council; density or intensity of development is expressly not accepted as hardship, and a variance cannot be granted if it would confer a special privilege, was self-created, or would degrade state water quality.

Category 1 and Category 2 forest conservation easements, defined earlier in the chapter, are the tool used to permanently protect specimen trees and stands once identified, prohibiting construction, paving, grading or dumping within the easement, though diseased or hazardous specimens may still be removed after city notice and agreement.