Guilford County, NC Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Guilford County's subdivision street standards, UDO Subsec. j (Street Trees), require street trees for 'all multi-family and non-residential developments' located within the City of Greensboro's Growth Tier I, the City of High Point's Future Growth Area, or another adopted municipal growth strategies map. Required trees go on both sides of the street, within 50 feet of the street centerline, and must be installed on individual building lots before the dwelling unit is occupied. Canopy trees are the default choice, but the ordinance requires understory trees instead beneath overhead utility lines or other projections into the public street right-of-way.

Maximum on-center spacing is set at 20 to 30 feet for understory trees and 50 feet for canopy trees, and trees may sit within front and corner side setbacks outside the right-of-way, ideally inside a dedicated tree easement sized for maintenance equipment to reach the mature canopy. Three footnoted exceptions give the county room to work with site conditions: trees planted within an NCDOT right-of-way must meet NCDOT's own guidelines, spacing may be reduced near driveways or sight-distance triangles with approval from the Director of Planning and Development after TRC review, and existing trees may be retained and counted toward the requirement instead of new plantings. Long-term upkeep of the trees falls on the individual property owner or the development's Property Owners' Association, not the county.