Haverford, PA Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Chapter 170 of the Haverford Township Code defines a heritage tree in § 170-2 as a tree having a thirty-inch-or-greater DBH. DBH means diameter at breast height, which the chapter measures at 4 1/2 feet above the ground. The Board of Commissioners amended the article in its entirety in 2021 by Ord. No. 2929-2021, and the stated policy in § 170-1 is that there shall be no net loss of trees within the boundaries of the Township.

Heritage status changes the process in three ways. First, a permit is required for the removal of any heritage tree. The Shade Tree Commission recommends to the Township Manager whether the permit should be approved or denied, and it must provide a written basis for its findings. Second, the replacement formula is steeper. Where a developer or owner finds it impossible or impractical to retain trees of 30 inches or greater, they replant one inch of new tree diameter for every one inch removed, and replacement trees need a minimum diameter of at least two inches. Trees under 30 inches are replaced at one inch for every four inches removed. Third, when replanting is impractical or impossible, the owner pays the Township a fee in lieu of planting at a rate set by the Board of Commissioners. Section 170-4 adds that those contributions pay for replacement trees elsewhere in the Township unless extenuating circumstances exist.

During construction, § 170-5 requires an area of preservation around every tree kept on site, calculated as 12 times DBH or one foot of radius per inch of DBH, and it makes four-foot-wide wood chip paths for high traffic areas mandatory around any heritage tree, where around other retained trees they are only encouraged. A person who believes the enforcement of the article has caused damage can appeal in writing to the Board of Commissioners within 10 days under § 170-7.