Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Fayetteville's tree preservation standards exempt "existing single-family detached residential dwellings," so an established house on its own lot is generally outside them. Two things still reach a homeowner. Any tree on the North Carolina Big Trees List, the American Forest Association Champion Tree list, or measuring 80 percent of the points of a listed tree "shall not be pruned or removed without prior permission from the City Arborist" - with no development or acreage qualifier. And a Clear-Cutting Permit is required before clear-cutting or significant land-disturbing activity that would impact healthy trees.
Size threshold
Specimen tree: "Any healthy tree with a caliper measurement meeting or exceeding 30 inches shall be considered to be a specimen tree." Removing a specimen tree on a non-exempt site is allowed on compelling site design grounds only, and costs $50.00 per caliper inch into the City tree fund. A tree survey is required to document any tree of 30 inches caliper or greater.
What's protected in Fayetteville
- Champion and big trees - anything on the North Carolina Big Trees List or the American Forest Association Champion Tree list, or scoring 80 percent of the points of a listed tree, which cannot be pruned or removed without the City Arborist's prior permission
- Specimen trees - healthy trees of 30 inches caliper or more on non-exempt sites
- Street trees and other public trees - "No person shall plant or remove a street tree or other public tree without first obtaining a permit from the City Manager"
- Trees planted to fulfill the street tree requirements of UDO 30-5.B.4.a, which stay regulated even on an exempt single-family lot
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Specimen tree removal on a non-exempt site: $50.00 per caliper inch of the removed tree, paid into the City tree fund. Fayetteville does not publish an application fee for the Clear-Cutting Permit itself.
- Penalties
- The City lists "unregulated tree removal" among the nuisances its Code Enforcement Division addresses, alongside overgrown yards and inoperative vehicles. The specific civil penalty schedule for a tree violation was not published in a source we could read; UDO Sec. 30-8.F.1 sets out the general remedies.
- Ordinance
- City of Fayetteville Code of Ordinances Chapter 30, Unified Development Ordinance: Sec. 30-5.B.6 Tree Preservation, Sec. 30-5.B.5 Public Tree Protection Standards, and Sec. 30-2.C.9 Clear-Cutting Permit. Sec. 30-5.B.6 derives from Ord. No. S2012-016 (9-10-2012), amended by Ord. No. S2013-015 (7-22-2013) and Ord. No. S2019-051 (9-23-2019), effective 11-18-2013.
Worth knowing
- The full list of exemptions from the tree preservation standards in Sec. 30-5.B.6.b.2: land within the Downtown (DT) district; existing single-family detached residential dwellings, except for trees planted to fulfil the street tree requirement; and installation and maintenance activities by utility providers within utility easements, public lands or public right-of-way.
- A Clear-Cutting Permit is separately exempt for removal of a severely diseased, dead or dying tree; for vegetation removal by public or private agencies in a right-of-way, easement or city-owned land where needed for public safety; and for land taxed at present-use value as agricultural, horticultural or forestry production under NCGS 105-277.2 through 277.7.
- Compliance with the tree preservation standards is reviewed through a Clear-Cutting Permit, a Site Plan, a Planned Development, or a Subdivision Plan - not through a standalone homeowner permit.
- Topping any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property is unlawful in Fayetteville, with narrow exceptions determined by the Tree Board.
- You need a written permit from the City Manager before changing natural drainage, excavating ditches, tunnels or trenches, or laying a drive within a 10-foot radius of any public tree.
- The City may remove a dead or diseased tree anywhere inside the city limits that the City Arborist declares a public health nuisance under NCGS 160A-193, notify you in writing, and if you do not abate it, charge the cost as a lien on the property.
- Fayetteville's Tree Board is the Joint Appearance Commission, sitting in that role.
What we could not confirm
We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.
- — A direct phone number for the City Arborist, who is the named decision-maker for champion and big tree permission. The Code Enforcement number above is the published route for tree removal questions.
- — How to apply for permission to prune or remove a champion or big tree. The UDO requires the City Arborist's prior permission but does not describe a form or process.
- — The dollar amount of civil penalties for removing a protected tree without permission.
- — Whether the champion and big tree provision is enforced against established single-family lots in practice, given that the surrounding section is otherwise scoped to development. The text of Sec. 30-5.B.6.e sets no such limit.