Permits & Ordinances
A plain-English guide to Douglasville’s tree rules and the very different rules in the cities around Douglas County — checked against each city’s own ordinance text on September 28, 2026.
Start Here
Inside the City of Douglasville, the tree rules are written around new construction and land disturbance — a homeowner taking down a tree in an existing yard isn’t who the ordinance is aimed at, though clearing at any real scale needs a land disturbance permit. Cross a city line and the answer changes: Fairburn wants a permit for any tree over 6 in. in diameter, Villa Rica ties its tree-removal permit to land disturbance, Powder Springs draws its line at ten trees, and Carrollton and Austell leave existing homes alone. Douglas County itself is mostly unincorporated — Lithia Springs and Winston aren’t cities — so the first question is always which jurisdiction your address is actually in. Below is what each one publishes. Rules change (Villa Rica rewrote its development standards in November 2023, Douglasville amended its section in March 2022), so treat this as a map, not a ruling, and confirm with the city before a saw starts. We check every job against the current rules during the free estimate.
City of Douglasville
Douglasville regulates trees through Section 8.02 of its Unified Development Ordinance, “Landscaping, buffering and screening,” which carries the city’s tree conservation requirements. The important line for homeowners is where those requirements apply: to single-family and two-family lots that are new or being expanded, and to new commercial, subdivision, mixed-use, multifamily and townhouse development. An established house on an established lot isn’t on that list, and the ordinance doesn’t set up a separate homeowner tree-removal permit.
When the rules do apply — a new lot, an addition that expands the footprint, or any clearing, grubbing or tree clearance done as part of developing the land — the city requires a land disturbance permit from the Community Development Department before work starts (Section 10.07), and the site has to meet the ordinance’s tree density standard. Diseased or infested trees are exempt once the Community Development Director or a forestry professional the city accepts verifies the condition; so are trees that have become, or threaten to become, a danger to life or property, on the same kind of verification. Trees in detention ponds and drainage easements are exempt outright.
Specimen trees. For properties the rules cover, Douglasville defines a specimen tree by size and condition: overstory hardwoods 20 in. DBH and up, overstory softwoods such as pines 30 in. and up, understory trees such as dogwoods and redbuds 4 in. and up — measured 4½ feet above the ground, in fair or better condition with a life expectancy over 15 years.
Timber cutting is its own process. Anyone harvesting standing timber for sale inside the city has to notify the development official first and post a $5,000 bond or letter of credit (Section 9.03). That’s aimed at commercial timber, not a homeowner’s backyard.
One honest caveat. Section 10.07 says no one may conduct “tree clearance” without a land disturbance permit, and the ordinance doesn’t define where a few trees end and clearing begins. If you’re taking out more than a tree or two, or grading afterward, ask the Building Division before you start — that’s what we do.
Official pages: douglasvillega.gov (Community Development, Building Division; Unified Development Ordinance Sections 8.02, 9.03 and 10.07, amended March 2022).
Verified against the ordinance text on September 28, 2026.
Lithia Springs, Winston & the county's unincorporated areas
Douglas County keeps its tree rules in Article 8 of its Unified Development Code, “Landscaping, Buffers and Tree Conservation,” and its county code requires timber harvesting to comply with that article. Like the city’s ordinance, it’s written around development — the county’s own FAQ page is titled “Does Douglas County have a Tree Ordinance?” We couldn’t retrieve the article’s text on the verification date because the county’s website wasn’t reachable, so we won’t guess at its thresholds or exemptions here. If your address is in Lithia Springs, Winston, or anywhere else in the county outside a city limit, confirm with Douglas County Planning & Zoning before clearing, and assume stream buffers and floodplains are off-limits everywhere.
Official pages: douglascountyga.gov (Planning & Zoning; Unified Development Code Article 8) and the county code on Municode, Section 12-227. Article text not retrievable on September 28, 2026 — re-check.
Douglas, Carroll, Cobb, Paulding & South Fulton
| City | Permit for a healthy tree on a single-family lot? | What counts as protected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Rica (Carroll / Douglas) | Only when land disturbance is involved — the city’s tree-removal permit is issued with the land disturbance permit. | Specimen: overstory hardwoods 28 in. DBH; pines 30 in.; understory trees 12 in. | Development sites must keep or plant 16 tree density units per acre. Cutting or removing trees that needed a permit without one is a violation, with stop-work orders and fines up to $1,000 per day. Street shade trees need the adjacent owners’ permission. Development standards rewritten November 2023. |
| Carrollton (Carroll County) | No, for an existing home. | Specimen (development sites): large hardwoods 27 in.; large softwoods 30 in.; small trees 8 in. | The tree-protection rules apply to new developments, expansions and anything needing a land-disturbance permit; clearing and grading on those sites need a development permit first. A specimen tree lost during development is replaced with two 4-in. trees of the same species. |
| Fairburn (South Fulton) | Yes — for any tree larger than 6 in. DBH, with or without construction. | Specimen: deciduous canopy trees 30 in.; evergreen canopy trees 24 in.; understory trees 10 in.; documented historic trees. | Written application to the city administrator; homeowners on a developed lot don’t have to submit a tree protection plan. Dead, diseased or infested trees are exempt when the county extension service or state forestry commission confirms it. The city can waive the rules during storm emergencies. Topping a tree (stubbing limbs over 3 in.) is unlawful. Ordinance amended December 2012. |
| Powder Springs (Cobb County) | No, for fewer than 10 trees. | Specimen trees must be replaced at twice their canopy; an arborist letter is requested for a specimen removal. | Ten trees or more requires a $150 land disturbance permit. Zoning-required trees, platted landscaping, stream buffers and floodplains are off-limits. Dead and hazard trees exempt. Review takes 5–10 business days. |
| Austell (Cobb / Douglas) | No homeowner tree permit found. | — | Clearing and grading permits ($200) and land disturbance permits apply to construction and to work within 200 ft of a perennial stream. |
| Mableton (Cobb County) | Unverified. | — | Mableton took over its own zoning from Cobb County in March 2025 and lists its own tree ordinance; we couldn’t retrieve the text — call Mableton Community Development. |
| Dallas / Hiram (Paulding County) | No private-lot permit found in either city code. | Dallas regulates street and park trees only. | Paulding County’s own rules couldn’t be verified — confirm with the county before clearing. |
When in doubt, the city’s community development or public works office is the answer — and the estimate visit is where we ask.
Our Part
Wrap a tape around the trunk at 4½ feet above the ground and divide the circumference by 3.14. A trunk that’s 19 inches around is 6 in. DBH — the permit line in Fairburn.
Often, yes. HOA covenants are separate from the city ordinance and can be stricter — and many of Douglasville’s newer subdivisions have them. Check both.
No. A tree that’s already down or actively threatening a structure is the hazard exemption in Douglasville, and Fairburn’s ordinance lets the city waive its rules during a storm emergency. Get it off the house, photograph everything, and notify the city afterward where the city asks for it.
We check the current rules for your address during a free on-site estimate.
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