Columbia Tree Protection Regulations

Columbia’s Unified Development Code incorporates a range of tree protection requirements applicable to most new developments in the city.

The Code requires, among other specific steps to protect trees, that

• Developers must submit a landscaping plan that describes how they will comply with the city’s tree protection requirements (17-5.3(b)(4));
• New projects must meet a specified minimum density factor showing that the site will maintain tree coverage (17-5.3(h));
• Developers must designate a tree protection zone around the roots of existing trees and within which soil compaction and other activities are subject to limits (17-5.4(5)); and
• Development subject to these rules must retain a percentage of existing tree canopy as laid out in Table 17-5.4(D)(1).