Stonecrest, GA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)
Key Facts
- Free removal cap
- 5 non-specimen trees/year, single-family lot
- Specimen trees
- Excluded from the 5-tree exemption
- Owner path over 5
- Requires Director of Community Development approval
- Approval basis
- New structure, addition, improvement, or tree health
Summary
In the City of Stonecrest, homeowners may remove up to five trees a year from a single-family lot without going through the tree protection process, but Stonecrest Code § 14-517 excludes specimen trees from that exemption entirely. Removing more than five ordinary trees, or any specimen tree, requires approval from the Director of Community Development.
(1)The removal of five or fewer trees, other than specimen trees, on any single-family residential property, within a single calendar year.(2)The removal of more than five trees, other than specimen trees, from an owner-occupied, single-family lot may be approved by the Director of Community Development if the owner must remove trees in order to build a newly permitted structure, or to build an addition to or make improvements to an existing structure, or to improve the health of other trees in the landscape.
Full Breakdown
Stonecrest's tree protection ordinance in chapter 14, article VI carves out a narrow self-help exemption for single-family owners, but it deliberately withholds that exemption from the city's most significant trees. Section 14-517(a)(1) frees any single-family residential property to remove five or fewer trees within a calendar year without going through the tree protection process, but only if those trees are not specimen trees; a specimen tree is excluded from the free-removal count from the first tree removed. Section 14-517(a)(2) extends a second, still-limited path: an owner-occupied single-family lot may remove more than five ordinary trees, again excluding specimen trees, if the Director of Community Development approves the removal because it is needed to build a newly permitted structure, build an addition, make improvements, or improve the health of the remaining landscape.
Specimen trees themselves are separately defined and protected under § 14-520(8), which sets diameter thresholds by species group, such as 30 inches DBH for large hardwoods and softwoods and ten inches DBH for small ornamental species, and bars cutting a specimen tree from a permitted tract without a special exception from the Zoning Board of Appeals, unless the Director has already approved the removal. Other listed exemptions in § 14-517, covering diseased or insect-infested trees, horticultural operations, hazard trees, agricultural land zoned RE, utility easement construction, and county landfill construction, apply regardless of whether a tree is a specimen, but the five-tree self-help allowance for ordinary residential removal specifically does not reach specimen trees at all.
Violations & Fines
Removing a specimen tree while relying on the five-tree self-help exemption in § 14-517(a)(1) is not covered by that exemption at all; cutting a specimen tree on a permitted tract without prior approval from the Director of Community Development or a special exception from the Zoning Board of Appeals violates § 14-520(8)(vi), and any specimen tree removed must be replaced at 1.5 times its diameter in replacement trees under § 14-520(8)(vii).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remove a specimen tree under Stonecrest's 5-tree exemption?
What if I need to remove more than five ordinary trees on my own lot?
What size makes a tree a protected 'specimen tree' in Stonecrest?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Stonecrest
Compare Stonecrest to another location·View the Georgia tree protection overview
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