Fayette County, GA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Fayette County's tree retention article (Development Code, Part II, Ch. 104, art. VI) singles out specimen trees for extra protection beyond the standard site density unit calculations that apply to nonresidential development. Sec. 104-153(2)a sets the size criteria: any deciduous canopy tree with a diameter at breast height of 24 inches or more, any evergreen canopy tree with a DBH of 30 inches or more, any understory tree with a DBH of 10 inches or more, or any tree documented to have significant historical value.

A tree meeting one of these thresholds is a specimen tree regardless of species, so the protection reaches oaks, maples, cedars and other canopy or understory species alike once they hit the size or historical bar. The county's environmental management department administers the article and must approve removal of a specimen tree in advance. Cut one down without that approval and Sec. 104-153(2)b requires the developer to replace it at two times an inch-for-inch rate, so a 24-inch specimen removed without a permit demands 48 inches of replacement caliper.

Where a removed tree's condition cannot be verified after the fact, size alone controls whether it counted as a specimen, closing off after-the-fact excuses. Unauthorized removal can also draw a stop work order from the department, halting the whole site until the violation is resolved. Under Sec. 104-153(2)d an owner may still remove a specimen tree lawfully if it blocks required vehicular access, utility or drainage lines that cannot be relocated, or property access, or if a certified arborist or the state forestry commission finds it diseased or unlikely to survive construction.

Written justification and, often, an arborist's viability appraisal must go to the environmental management department before removal is approved, and preserved specimen trees incorporated into a project's design earn double EDU credit toward the site's tree density requirement.