Showing ordinances that apply to Wheaton, MD
Wheaton is an unincorporated community (population 52,150) in Montgomery County, Maryland. Because Wheaton is not an incorporated city, it does not have its own municipal code. Instead, Montgomery County ordinances apply directly to properties here. The tree ordinances rules below are the ones that govern your area.
Montgomery County has a comprehensive framework of tree protections spanning Chapter 22A (Forest Conservation), Chapter 49A (Roadside Trees), and M-NCPPC regulations for park trees. The county is widely recognized as having among the strictest local tree laws in the Washington DC metropolitan region.
Montgomery County protects trees through multiple overlapping regulations. Chapter 22A, the Forest Conservation Law, requires forest conservation plans for most development activities and protects individual trees 6 inches DBH and larger on development sites. Chapter 49A, the Roadside Tree Law, protects all trees within or overhanging the public right-of-way and requires MCDOT permits for any pruning or removal. M-NCPPC regulations protect trees on all parkland, which covers roughly one-third of the county. The county also enforces tree protection during construction through sediment control permits, requiring tree save fencing around the critical root zone (defined as 1 foot of radius per inch of trunk diameter) of protected trees. No grading, trenching, material storage, or equipment operation is permitted within tree save areas. The Tree Montgomery program offers free shade trees to county residents and provides educational resources on proper tree care. The county arborist within MCDOT advises on roadside tree issues, and the M-NCPPC environmental planning staff reviews forest conservation plans.
Tree protection violations range from $100 to $500 per tree depending on the regulation violated. Construction activity within tree save areas can trigger stop-work orders. Damage to public trees requires replacement at the violators expense plus potential fines.
See how Wheaton's tree ordinances rules stack up against other locations.
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