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

Sec. 14-6003 of the Tree Preservation Ordinance defines a heritage tree as a tree designated upon approval by the director of the department of community development services, or an authorized agent, because of its notable historical value or interest due to age, size, or historical association. That designation sits alongside two related classes in the same subsection: an ordinary tree (any self-supporting woody perennial at least two inches in trunk diameter and ten feet tall at maturity) and a specimen tree, which the City Arborist designates for its type, size, age or other professional criteria under separate administrative standards.

Heritage trees receive the same root-protection-zone requirements as specimen trees: protective fencing must be installed at least three feet beyond the root protection zone before any land disturbance begins, and no disturbance is permitted inside that zone without City Arborist authorization. Sec. 14-6006(3) lists illegal removal or disturbance of a specimen tree, heritage tree or stand of trees as a chapter violation in its own right, separate from ordinary land-disturbance violations, and it gives code enforcement grounds for an immediate stop-work order. A property owner who believes the director wrongly designated, or declined to designate, a heritage tree may appeal within 30 days to the director for reconsideration and, after that, to the zoning board of appeals, but Sec. 14-6014(c) limits appeals to errors of interpretation or genuine site-specific hardship, not disagreement with the designation itself.