What Article 27 is and where it applies
Article 27 of the Cherokee County Zoning Ordinance, titled Tree Preservation and Replacement, is the county's main rule for trees on land being developed or disturbed. The current text carries amendments made by Ordinance 2025-O-011, adopted on August 19, 2025. As part of the county zoning ordinance, it governs unincorporated Cherokee County; cities such as Ball Ground and Canton adopt their own codes, so owners inside a city limit should check with their city.
The ordinance ties into the county's land disturbance permitting. It says an approved Tree Protection and Replacement Plan must be included as a condition for issuance of a Land Disturbance Permit, and it sets the density targets those plans must meet. Our land clearing guide covers the permit side; this page covers the tree rules themselves.
Key definitions in plain language
A tree, for the ordinance, is a self-supporting woody perennial plant that normally reaches a trunk diameter greater than three inches and a height of over ten feet at maturity. Size is measured as diameter at breast height, four and one-half feet above the ground. The critical root zone is a circle around the trunk with a radius in feet of one and one-half times the diameter in inches, and the drip line is the line beneath the outermost branch tips.
Overstory trees are species that form the top canopy and generally reach a mature height of more than forty feet. Boundary trees are trees of ten inches DBH or larger on adjacent property whose root zone or canopy extends onto a permitted site. Specimen trees qualify for special consideration because of size, type and condition, and Heritage Trees are trees the county recognizes for unique value or champion status. Our specimen and heritage guide goes deeper on those two.
The exemptions most people need
Section 27.4-6 lists activities specifically exempted from the ordinance. They include construction of a single-family detached or two-family home that is not part of a Major Subdivision or that meets the requirements of a Rural Subdivision; additions, alterations, improvements or remodeling of an existing residence and construction of accessory structures; tree removal by existing individual single-family detached and duplex homeowners, unless the tree is a Heritage Tree; plant and tree nurseries and botanical gardens; installation of on-site sewage management systems; and land disturbance permits of 5,000 square feet or less where no trees are removed.
The list also exempts projects funded by Cherokee County or located on county-owned property. For a typical homeowner in Ball Ground's unincorporated surroundings, the practical upshot is that removing trees from your own existing single-family lot is outside the ordinance unless the tree is a designated Heritage Tree. Other rules, from stream buffers to Corps of Engineers shoreline land, still apply; see shoreline and buffer rules.
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Free Quote RequestDisease, insects and declining trees
Section 27.4-7 says arborist approval is not required to remove dead and diseased trees by individual homeowners. For larger areas, including southern pine beetle infestations, removal may be authorized by the county arborist on the written advice of the County Extension Service, the Georgia Forestry Commission or an ISA Certified Arborist, after a finding of disease or infestation; the owner must notify the arborist and submit that written finding before removal. See pine beetle removal.
Section 27.4-8 covers structurally declining trees: trees documented in writing by a landscape forester or ISA Certified Arborist as posing a risk of failure, not caused by development, may be authorized for removal without penalty. Site density units must still be met, and the request must include an amendment to the replanting plan. See dead and hazard trees.
Timber harvesting notice
Section 27.4-9 follows state law, O.C.G.A. 12-6-24. Anyone harvesting standing timber in unincorporated Cherokee County for delivery as pulpwood, logs, poles, posts or wood chips must notify the county arborist before entering the property if possible, and in no event later than 24 hours after entering, then give notice of cessation within 24 hours after finishing. A separate notice is needed for each tract, with a map showing the tract and truck access points.
The ordinance says no fee is charged for the notice and no permit, including a driveway permit, is required of the harvester. A copy of harvest permits or notices goes to the county Tax Assessor and Tax Commissioner, and the definitions note that, under Georgia law, timber harvests or sales must be reported on Department of Revenue form PT-283T.
Penalties
The ordinance says violators may generally be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000, in addition to more specific penalties, and that the county may also seek injunctions and deny, revoke or suspend permits. On sites under a land disturbance permit, unauthorized removal or permanent damage to each Specimen Tree brings an immediate stop-work order, a fine of not less than $1,000 and replacement planting at three times the tree's density unit value.
For a Heritage Tree, the ordinance sets an immediate stop-work order, a fine of not less than $1,000 and replacement at eight times the density unit value. These are the penalty figures in the ordinance as published; our calculator shows a tree's density unit value so you can see what three or eight times that would mean.