Tree Service in Chamblee, GA

For Tree Service in Chamblee, the city's Residential Tree Preservation Guide, revised June 17, 2025, sets the rules. On a single-family lot, a homeowner can remove up to five non-specimen trees per calendar year without a permit. Removing more than five, or any specimen tree, requires one. Multi-family properties always need a permit.

Specimen sizes in Chamblee

The guide measures trunks at 4.5 feet and treats these as specimens:

• Hardwoods such as oak, poplar and sweetgum at 24 inches or more
• Softwoods such as pine, cedar and cryptomeria at 30 inches or more
• Understory trees such as dogwood, redbud and sourwood at just 4 inches or more

That last line catches people out. A small dogwood by the front walk can be a specimen here. Hazardous specimen trees also need a permit.

What a specimen permit involves

The guide lists a site plan, photos, a statement from a certified arborist or landscape architect for specimen removals, the contractor's business license and liability insurance, and the fee. The city provides a sign that has to be posted at least five days before removal, and the trees must be marked with ribbon. That waiting period is worth putting on the calendar. The guide also sets a baseline of at least 50 total inches of tree diameter per acre on residential property.

Huntley Hills and the older neighborhoods

Huntley Hills was established in the early 1960s, though the first house went up on Plantation Lane in 1950, and it joined the city in the 2010 annexation along with roughly 5,000 residents. Neighborhoods from that period have big oaks and pines over low ranch roofs, and decades of root growth under driveways and sewer laterals. Pruning and selective removal there is usually about weight over the house and clearance over the street.

Near the airport and rail lines

Chamblee began as Roswell Junction where two railroads crossed, and it later hosted Camp Gordon in World War I and a Navy flight training center in World War II. Today the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport takes up a large part of the city. Downtown lots near the Chamblee Rail Trail are smaller, and removal there often means lowering wood in pieces between houses and fences.

Cryptomeria, cedars and pines

Chamblee's guide groups cryptomeria with pines and cedars as softwoods, with a specimen threshold of 30 inches. Cryptomeria was widely planted as a screen in this part of the metro. They grow tall, with dense tops that catch wind and hold ice, and older ones often have dead lower branches. Thinning dead wood and checking for co-dominant tops helps them stand up to weather.

Call (770) 758-8959 or send the form. We will count and measure the trees you want removed, tell you whether a permit applies and give you a written estimate.