DeKalb County wants to rewrite its 27-year-old tree protection ordinance, and residents have two chances to weigh in before the end of next week.

A virtual public meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, held on Microsoft Teams. An in-person session follows at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library, 5234 Lavista Road, Tucker.

The ordinance covers unincorporated DeKalb, but one policy option under discussion is aligning the county's rules with nearby cities, a change that could reshape how development and tree removal are handled across the Dunwoody and Brookhaven area.

About 80% of the county's canopy loss is due to development, according to Kathryn Kolb, a contractor and consultant for DeKalb County who helped write the original 1999 ordinance. Kolb, who has worked on metro Atlanta tree ordinances for more than 25 years, said high real estate prices are driving the problem, WABE reported.

"Recent building trends tend to favor clear-cutting and mass grading," Kolb said at a community meeting in Panthersville, in south DeKalb.

The county's tree canopy assessment, released in 2025, found tree cover in unincorporated DeKalb rose from about 58% in 2010 to more than 60% in 2023. But Kolb cautioned that the gains may be overstated. She said further analysis of the aerial imaging showed some supposed regrowth was actually shadows misidentified as stands of trees.

Less than 25% of canopy growth came from new plantings, according to Kolb. The rest was natural regeneration. Most of the county's remaining urban forest sits on private property, largely in single-family residential zones.

Commissioners Ted Terry and Michelle Long Spears are leading the town hall series. The current ordinance has not been updated since 1999.

Among the policy options under discussion: increasing the fees developers pay when they cut down trees, aligning DeKalb's rules with nearby cities and reducing tree loss during construction. The county has not set a timeline for a formal draft or vote.

When the town halls were first announced in late August, Commissioner Long Spears said the ordinance is "long overdue for an update that reflects how our community has grown."

Each session includes an introduction to the ordinance, a discussion, a question-and-answer segment and a survey. Residents can find access details for the virtual Sept. 14 meeting on Commissioner Terry's website.