Chapel Hill, NC Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Section 5.7.6(a)(2) of the Land Use Management Ordinance defines a specimen tree as any healthy living pine with a trunk diameter of eighteen inches or more, or any other species with a trunk diameter at breast height of twelve inches or more, or six inches or more for North Carolina native species drawn from a specific list of genera the ordinance names, including Buckeye, Serviceberry, Pawpaw, Hornbeam, Redbud, Fringetree, Dogwood, Hawthorn, Persimmon, Beech, Silverbell, Witch-hazel, Holly, Cedar, Hophornbeam, Sourwood, Sassafras and Hemlock. Subsection (b) applies these thresholds on developing land: any specimen or rare tree within fifty feet of proposed soil disturbance or construction activity must be identified and located by survey on the landscape protection plan submitted with a zoning compliance permit application, and the town's urban forester may visit the site to check the survey's accuracy.

Proposed development is required to maximize preservation of these trees through flexible lot layout, building placement and utility routing choices. A rare tree, the ordinance's higher protected class, cannot be removed unless the town manager determines there is no reasonable way to develop, improve or maintain the property and still save it; saving a rare or specimen tree also counts as sufficient evidence toward several of the standard variance findings under Section 4.12.2. Planning and Development Services checks compliance with these survey and preservation duties as part of its review of every landscape protection plan.