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

The designation lives inside Fulton County's tree preservation ordinance (Code §§ 26-396--26-405), which the Board of Commissioners rewrote in full by Ord. No. 14-0662 on September 3, 2014. Section 26-397(b) limits the ordinance's reach to activity that requires a land disturbance permit within unincorporated Fulton County, plus new single-family and duplex construction, additions, renovations and timber harvesting under subsections (c) and (d); it does not touch properties where no such permit is triggered, and Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and the county's other cities run their own tree codes.

Under the definitions in § 26-398(32), an ordinary 'tree' is any self-supporting woody perennial at least two inches in trunk diameter, measured six inches above grade, that reaches ten feet at maturity, while a 'heritage tree' is one the director of the department of planning and community services, or an authorized agent, designates as having notable historical value because of its age, size or historical association, a status distinct from a 'specimen tree' the county arborist designates for type, size or age. Heritage trees sit inside the ordinance's protected zone, which under § 26-398(22) includes the critical root zone plus three feet and any tree save area required by the zoning resolution or a permit condition.

An owner or developer who wants to remove a tree from a protected zone must document a hardship, such as an economic or zoning restriction, and get the director's approval before cutting, under § 26-400(a); the ordinance separately bars removing a specimen tree without the county arborist's written permission under § 26-400(c). The county arborist and the department jointly enforce the article, with authority to modify, revoke, suspend or void a land disturbance permit and to withhold certificates of occupancy under § 26-402.