The Atlanta City Council has approved revisions to the city’s long-standing tree protection rules, marking the most significant update in over two decades.
The unanimous decision by the council introduces increased fees for tree removal and establishes a new senior citizen tree assistance program. Despite these changes, some council members and environmental advocates express concern that the measures fall short of adequately preserving Atlanta’s tree canopy.
On Monday, the council voted in favor of a reversion of the city’s Tree Protection Ordinance.
The city’s Community Development and Human Services committee had recently debated different versions of the draft throughout the month of May and pushed forward the legislation to the full council last week.
“As a multi-generational Atlanta native, I am proud of our beautiful city in the forest. Atlanta has always been a national leader in tree canopy and we have taken measures to protect it for future generations,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens in a statement on Monday.
But not everyone agreed that the rules are strong enough. Tree advocates have said that the measures aren’t protective enough to stop developers from clear-cutting trees.
Council member Julian Bond expressed concerns about the current legislation being “stripped” of stricter measures that were previously proposed in earlier draft versions of the rules.
“We know that people did not get everything they wanted out of this iteration of the ordinance, but I also want to make clear that the movement to improve tree protections is not over because this passes,” Bond said.
“No ordinance is going to make every single person happy, but what we have before you today are the basic things that we need for tree protection in our city,” said Jahnee Prince, commissioner of Atlanta’s Department of City Planning, at the June 10 CDHS meeting.
“We will continue to refine it, and we hope to bring to you early next year further amendments to the ordinance.”
The new measures come as advocates sound the alarm over the city’s tree canopy, which has been gradually decreasing in the face of development and rapid population growth. According to studies completed by researchers from Georgia Tech, the city’s tree canopy decreased from 48% to 46.5% from 2008 to 2018, which equated to an estimated loss of nearly half an acre of canopy per day between 2008 and 2018.
And with Atlanta, like most of the country, predicted to face increasing temperatures over time due to climate change, trees can act as a natural coolant to communities by providing shade and releasing moisture into the air. For Atlanta’s Black residents, who are disproportionately impacted by extreme urban heat compared to white residents, trees could be a lifeline.
The Tree Protection Ordinance establishes the permitting process for tree removal, fines for illegal tree cutting, and the tree planting and preservation requirements in the city.
Some of the updated rules would include increasing tree removal fees and more.
The new rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.
Of the changes being implemented, here are some that residents should note:
A new low-income senior assistance program
In the new version of the TPO, the city is creating a program that would award $400,000 each year to a nonprofit organization to help low-income seniors with the removal of dead or fallen over trees and would work to plant new ones. The city previously proposed $200,000 as the budget for this program in a May version of the draft.
Increase to tree removal fines and fees
The new rules increase tree removal fees, or recompense, to $140 per diameter inch of tree trunk. It also increases the per-acre caps on recompense to between $12,500 to $35,000 based on zoning.
In a previous version of the draft, the city was looking to increase the current tree removal fees from $100 per tree plus $30 per tree-trunk-inch to $260 per tree-trunk-inch.
At a working meeting conducted by the Department of City Planning and the City Council on May 1, Prince, the department’s commissioner, said that the fees established in the 2001 ordinance don’t match the increased prices for planting new trees in 2025.
“The increased recompense for planting trees is justified by the higher costs of planting in urban areas. We’re planting trees on sites that are encumbered by utilities and roads and other infrastructure,” said Prince.
City officials were also previously proposing to increase the maximum fine for illegal tree removal from $60,000 per acre to $260,000 per acre. The new approved rules have set it at $200,000 per acre. For cases where a single tree has been removed, the fines are $500 for the first infraction and $1,000 for each subsequent violation, plus payment calculated to replace the tree.
Reduced removal fees for affordable housing
The new TPO allows any developer creating affordable housing units for low-income residents to qualify for reduced tree removal fees.
The reduced fee will be based on the number of affordable housing units the project plans to create. Developers that qualify for reduced fees will have to go through a verification process with the city to prove that their units are affordable.
Black residents in the city face an increasing burden from high housing costs. While 47% of Atlanta residents are Black, they made up 80% of the homeless population in the city in January, according to a homelessness census count released earlier this month.
Establishing a professional registration program
Another new addition to the TPO is that arborists, foresters, landscape architects and tree companies that are planning to cut down trees or receive any tree-related permits must be registered with the city.
The registration program will be free, and city officials say they are proposing this measure to create more accountability around illegal tree removals and incorrect site plans. Anyone who is registered with the city that is caught violating the new ordinance would face suspension from working in the city.
This story has been updated.
