Wilmington, NC Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Sec. 18-456(b) of the Land Development Code sets the size thresholds that turn an ordinary tree into a 'significant' one carrying extra protection: hardwood, long leaf pine, pocosin (pond) pine, black pine and non-pine conifer trees at least 24 inches in diameter at breast height, all other pines at least 32 inches DBH, and dogwoods, magnolias, American hollies and other ornamental flowering trees at least 8 inches DBH. The classification applies no matter where the tree sits on the site, and once a tree qualifies it must be preserved and worked into the site's required landscaping under the same subsection.

If a significant tree still has to come down, whether for a building footprint or a driveway, Sec. 18-460(b) doubles the mitigation math compared with an ordinary regulated tree: the total DBH of the removed significant trees is multiplied by two times the species percentage in Table IV and divided by three to set the number of replacement trees owed. Replacements need at least 144 square feet of pervious growing area each. Trees that are dead, dying, or more than 50 percent damaged or diseased from natural causes are exempt from mitigation, and the city manager can allow payment into the City Tree Improvement Fund instead of on-site replacement when the lot cannot physically hold the required trees. A significant tree can only be removed under Sec. 18-457 if essential site improvements truly cannot be relocated elsewhere on the parcel; cost or convenience of clearing is not a valid reason on its own.