Kenner, LA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Kenner's Planning and Zoning Department, through the Department of Inspections and Code Enforcement, administers tree removal permits under Section 9.08 of the Unified Development Code (Appendix A). The permit trigger is size-based, not a fixed protected-species list: any commercial, office, industrial or institutional clearing project must obtain a permit if a tree on the tract measures twelve inches or more in diameter at breast height, and any residential project clearing more than one acre needs the same review. Owners who choose to preserve existing trees earn tree credits toward the landscaping ordinance's planting quotas under Table IX-1: a tree with a fifty-foot-or-greater drip line spread or a twenty-six-inch-or-greater trunk earns five credits, a forty-to-forty-nine-foot spread or twenty-inch trunk earns four, a twenty-to-thirty-nine-foot spread or nine-to-nineteen-inch trunk earns three, and a six-to-ten-foot spread or three-to-eight-inch trunk earns two.

Every other preserved tree earns one credit, with one specific carve-out: Chinese Tallow, Black Willow, Cottonwood, Camphor Tree, and any other species with a lifespan of twenty years or less or classified as invasive earn no credit at all, so an applicant cannot count those species toward the development's required plantings. A preserved tree that later dies within eight years of the credit being granted must be replaced by the owner, on a matching Class A or Class B basis, within six months. Once a building permit issues, any tree not designated for preservation on the approved landscape plan may be removed outright.

During construction the canopy area beneath any credited tree becomes a protected tree protection zone that must be fenced to the drip line and posted with signage every twenty-five feet.