Carroll County, GA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Landscaped strip width
- 10 feet minimum between ROW and parking lot
- Tree spacing
- 1 tree per 100 linear feet of street
- Landscape area floor
- 15 percent of project area minimum
- Deciduous tree size
- 2-inch caliper at planting
- Evergreen tree size
- 5 to 6 feet tall at planting
- Applies to
- Corridor overlay development, unincorporated county only
- Penalty
- Up to $1,000 fine or 60 days jail
Summary
Unincorporated Carroll County, Georgia requires a landscaped street-tree strip for multi-family, retail, office and industrial development inside the county's designated transportation corridor overlay. The Corridor Development Plan ordinance sets a minimum ten-foot landscaped strip between the road right-of-way and any abutting parking lot, with at least one tree planted every 100 linear feet along the street, plus a 15 percent landscape-area floor.
B.Minimum landscape area. All development subject to this ordinance shall provide required screening, foundation landscaping, parking lot landscaping, bufferyards and street trees. The total landscape area shall not be less than 15 percent of the project area of multi-family residential, commercial and industrial development areas. ... I.Streetscape. Applicants shall provide a minimum ten-foot wide landscaped strip between all road rights-of-way and the back-of-curb of abutting off-street paved parking lots. At least one tree shall be planted every 100 linear feet along the street.
Full Breakdown
Carroll County's Corridor Development Plan ordinance (Code § 102-16, Appendix A, Article IV) sets the street-tree planting standard for development inside the county's mapped transportation corridor overlay in unincorporated Carroll County. Table 4-1 requires street trees for multi-family, retail/service/office and industrial development; single-family subdivisions are exempt from the street-tree line but still owe bufferyards. 4(B) sets the underlying landscape-area floor: total landscape area cannot fall below 15 percent of the project area for multi-family, commercial and industrial development, and that area must include required screening, foundation landscaping, parking-lot landscaping, bufferyards and street trees together.
4(I), captioned 'Streetscape,' is the parkway-planting rule itself: applicants must provide a minimum ten-foot wide landscaped strip between every road right-of-way and the back-of-curb of any abutting off-street paved parking lot, and must plant at least one tree every 100 linear feet along the street frontage. 4(A): deciduous trees at least two-inch caliper measured six inches above ground, evergreens at least five to six feet tall at planting. 7 lets the county require a cash escrow or irrevocable letter of credit equal to one and one-half times the estimated planting cost when weather delays installation.
Because Appendix A implements the Corridor Development Plan, these street-tree standards bind only development along the county's designated transportation corridor, not every unincorporated parcel, and they never apply inside Carrollton, Villa Rica, Temple, Bowdon, Whitesburg, Mount Zion or Roopville.
Violations & Fines
Failing to maintain required street-tree plantings is itself a violation of the Corridor Development Plan under § 4.8(A). Because Appendix A carries no separate fine, a violation is punished under the county's general penalty, Code § 1-13: up to a $1,000.00 fine, up to 60 days imprisonment, or both, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense, on top of forfeiture of any landscaping escrow posted under § 4.7.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Carroll County require street trees along new development?
How big do the required street trees have to be at planting?
Does this street-tree rule apply inside Carrollton?
What if the required street trees aren't maintained?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Carroll County
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