Chapel Hill, NC Tree Protection: Tree Ordinances (2026)

Chapel Hill's tree-protection framework rests on three pillars. (1) LUMO Appendix A Section 5.7 (Tree Protection) requires a Landscape Protection Plan for any work disturbing more than 5,000 sq ft on a SF lot or any work on non-residential and multi-family lots, sets minimum canopy-coverage standards of 20%–40% by land use, defines rare and specimen trees in Section 5.7.6 (including the 11-species invasive-exotic exclusion), protects critical root zones, and authorizes mitigation payments into the Town tree-mitigation fund when on-site replacement is not practicable. (2) LUMO Article 3 Section 3.6 establishes the Resource Conservation District (RCD), an overlay that restricts structures, fences, and significant land disturbance along perennial streams (and along intermittent streams for parcels platted after January 27, 2003) — a de facto riparian-forest protection layer enforced by Stormwater & Environmental Services. (3) Because Chapel Hill is in the Jordan Lake (Cape Fear / Haw River) watershed, the Jordan Lake riparian buffer rule 15A NCAC 02B .0267 (50-foot protected buffer) remains in force, as does the nutrient offset rule 15A NCAC 02B .0273; the broader Jordan Lake stormwater rule 15A NCAC 02B .0265 was suspended by the NC General Assembly pending readoption, so new-development stormwater controls revert to local rules. Chapel Hill is a designated Tree City USA community (with Carrboro and Hillsborough) meeting the Arbor Day Foundation's four standards. Authority is bounded by NCGS 160D-921, which limits Town regulation of forestry on present-use-value forestland or registered-forester managed forests, except in connection with development.