Rock Hill, SC Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

5 of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Rock Hill (last updated June 22, 2026), a Heritage Tree is any canopy tree greater than 32 inches in diameter at breast height, or 10 inches for understory species, that is free of major damage and exhibits superior growth habit for its species. Fourteen species are exempt from the designation regardless of size: American elm, black cherry, black locust, Bradford pear, boxelder, cottonwood, Eastern red cedar, honey locust, mulberry, sweetgum, silver maple, water maple, white pine and yellow pine.

Every development in the city, on public or private land, must protect qualifying trees: cutting, removal, pushing over, killing or other harm is barred outright, and paving or soil compaction within the drip-line cannot exceed 10 percent of the drip-line's square footage. Removal is allowed in two circumstances. A heritage tree certified by a qualified arborist as severely diseased, high-risk or dying may come down with no replacement obligation. A healthy tree may also be removed: a single-family homeowner who removes one must replant trees on the same parcel totaling at least 18 caliper inches at breast height, each at least three inches in caliper, and maintain them through a three-year establishment period, replacing any that fail.

Owners of other land uses may remove a healthy heritage tree only after showing the tree cannot reasonably be designed around, and must then plant at least three replacement trees of six-inch caliper each within 12 months. Where replanting is not possible, the Planning and Development Director may accept a fee-in-lieu payment into the city's tree fund, sized to the impact being mitigated, but only after every reasonable planting option has been tried. 6 requires a sturdy, visible protective fence at least four feet high, of chain link or wooden post with livestock wire, set at least nine inches out for every inch of trunk diameter or to the drip-line, whichever reaches farther.