Chapel Hill, NC Tree Protection: Tree Removal Permits (2026)

Tree-removal review in Chapel Hill is concentrated in LUMO Appendix A Section 5.7 (Tree Protection). The applicability rule reaches all work impacting trees on non-residential and multi-family lots and any work on single- and two-family lots that disturbs more than 5,000 square feet. Once triggered, the applicant must submit a Landscape Protection Plan to the Town Manager describing existing soils, trees, vegetation, and landscape elements; identifying areas where trees are to be protected and preserved versus removed; showing the location and critical root zone (CRZ) of every tree within 50 feet of disturbance (including off-site trees); and specifying tree-protection measures before, during, and after construction. Construction or repair activities within the CRZ of any rare or specimen tree (defined in Section 5.7.6) cannot start until the Town Manager has approved the plan. Section 5.7 imposes minimum canopy-coverage standards that vary 20%–40% by land use, with retention on-site as the highest priority; mitigation payments into the Town tree-mitigation fund may substitute when on-site canopy is not practicable. Below the 5,000 sq ft trigger, single-family lots may clear noncommercial open space without a permit so long as no rare or specimen tree CRZ is impacted. State limits: NCGS 160D-921 prohibits local regulation of forestry on present-use-value forestland or forester-managed forests except in connection with development; NCGS 160D-921(c) lets the Town deny a building permit or refuse a plat for up to three years after a non-compliant timber harvest. Applications are submitted through Planning & Building Development Services as part of zoning compliance review.