Dead and diseased trees: the simplest case
Cherokee County's Article 27 says, in its section on disease and insect infestation, that arborist approval is not required to remove dead and diseased trees by individual homeowners. Combined with the general exemption for tree removal by existing single-family and duplex homeowners, which excludes only Heritage Trees, that makes a dead tree on a house lot in unincorporated Cherokee County mainly a safety and logistics question rather than a permitting one.
Logistics still matter. Dead trees, especially pines, become brittle as they dry, and a crew may not be able to climb them safely. A provider may need to use a lift or a crane, or fell the tree in sections from the ground. Ask how they plan to bring it down, where the pieces will land, and how they will protect your roof, fences and septic area.
Structurally declining trees on development sites
Article 27 has a separate provision for trees that are alive but failing. Trees identified as posing a risk of failure, meaning the whole tree falling or large parts breaking off, and documented in writing by a professional landscape forester or ISA Certified Arborist using commonly accepted hazard evaluation techniques, and not caused by development activities, may be authorized by the county arborist for removal without penalty.
The same section says site density units must still be met, and removal requests must come with an amendment to the replanting plan. Trees removed this way, because of their poor structure, are not counted as Heritage or Specimen trees. In other words, the county lets you remove a dangerous tree from a protected area, but it expects the replanting plan to make up the difference.
Signs owners usually notice first
Most hazard calls start with something visible: a crack in the trunk, a large dead limb over the driveway, mushrooms at the base, a new lean after a storm, or soil heaving on one side of the root plate. None of these is a diagnosis on its own, which is why the ordinance relies on written evaluations by trained professionals for permitted sites.
For pines, look for the beetle signs the Georgia Forestry Commission describes: pitch tubes and boring dust on the bark. A pine killed by beetles is a dead tree for removal purposes, but neighboring green pines may already be infested, so read pine beetle tree removal before cutting just one.
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Free Quote RequestHazard trees near lines, water and neighbors
If a dead or leaning tree is near an overhead line, the utility comes first. Georgia Power warns that trees and limbs can conduct electricity when they contact lines and that no one should climb trees near power lines. See trees near power lines for how to report it.
If the tree is on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land along Lake Allatoona, removing hazardous trees is one of the uses listed for the Corps' Specified Acts Permit, which is generally issued for a one-time occurrence after a meeting with a park ranger. If the tree belongs to a neighbor, start with a conversation; the county's boundary tree rules for permitted sites require notice to the tree's owner when a boundary tree cannot be saved.
Questions to ask a provider about a hazard tree
Ask whether they will assess the tree before quoting, and whether that assessment can be written down. If you live in a subdivision with protected buffers or on a site still under a development permit, ask whether the work needs the county arborist's sign-off. Ask how they will handle the stump; grinding is excavation under Georgia's 811 law, so a locate request should come first.
Ask about the trees around it, too. Removing one tree can expose its neighbors to wind they have never faced. If the crew needs to work inside the root zone of a tree you are keeping, our root zone calculator will tell you how wide that zone is. And for storm-related hazards, see storm damage removal.
Paperwork worth keeping
Keep any written assessment, photographs of the defect, and the invoice describing what was removed. If the tree was on a site under an LDP or in a required buffer, keep the arborist's authorization. These records protect you if a neighbor, buyer or the county later asks why a tree is gone.
If the removal leaves a gap you want to replant, check the mature height of what you plant against any overhead lines; Georgia Power's easement guidance generally allows trees with a mature height under fifteen feet in its transmission easements. For general removals, start with tree removal in Ball Ground.