Tree removal in Decatur, Georgia

Who decides about a tree in Decatur

Decatur is an incorporated city, so its own tree and development rules apply rather than DeKalb County’s, which DeKalb’s guide says in so many words. Call city hall or the city’s planning office before removing a healthy tree, and ask about a dead one as well: Atlanta, for one, sends an arborist to look at a dead tree before it comes down.

Outside the cities, DeKalb County has its own rules; see DeKalb County. What applies across the metro, and what the counties publish, is in Permits.

A tree that has already fallen, a tree on a line and a tree on a house have their own steps: tree on the house, tree on a line.

If a tree is on a power line

Call the utility before anyone else; your bill says which one it is. Across DeKalb County, federal service-territory records list Georgia Power, City of Norcross, Snapping Shoals El Member Corp, Walton Electric Member Corp.

Georgia Power: 1-888-891-0938, or 911 to have a downed line blocked off. Co-op and city customers: the outage number on the bill.

Georgia Power storm center · EIA-861, 2024

Questions worth reading in Decatur

• Warning signsthe typical home dates from 1975, often with trees as old
• Tree on a power lineFEMA rates ice storms very high here
• Who paysFEMA rates tornado risk relatively high here
• Hanging limbFEMA rates strong wind relatively high here
• Storm cleanup
• Cables and braces

All answers