York County, VA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Sec. 24.1-242 of the York County Zoning Ordinance sets the landscaping standards that apply whenever a site plan, subdivision, or development requires new plantings, and subsection (g), Species standards, is where the county regulates plant species rather than just quantity or size. Sec. 24.1-242(g)(2) requires that at least 35 percent of all plant material installed on a site be a species native to the Virginia coastal plain, drawing on the list the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation publishes. Sec. 24.1-242(g)(3) then flatly bars installing any species carried on the current Virginia Invasive Plant Species List from that same state agency.

Together the two rules steer new landscaping in York County, Virginia away from invasive plantings and toward regionally appropriate trees and shrubs. The same section's subsection (f), Selection of trees for preservation, separately directs the zoning administrator to favor keeping heritage, memorial, significant, and specimen trees on site during development whenever practical, and subsection (e) requires any tree chosen for preservation to be fenced off five feet outside its dripline before clearing or construction begins, using the protection practices in the Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook.

Species selections outside the approved plant lists in Appendix A can still be used if a qualified professional certifies the species has hardiness and growth habits suited to the planting location. These landscaping standards are administered by Planning and Development Services as part of site plan and subdivision plan review.