HOA and gated community clearing rules in WNC: Biltmore Forest, Kenmure, Champion Hills, Wolf Laurel, The Cliffs

A Champion Hills owner wants the poplars below the deck thinned for a golf course view before the family arrives in October. The contractor can do it in a day. The Champion Hills Architectural Review Committee wants a written request, a site visit, tagged trees, one week of notice, and the Club Board’s signature because the trees sit inside the 50 ft golf course setback. One day of work, three weeks of paper.

In a gated community the committee is the first permit.

Who approves clearing inside a gated community?

The architectural review committee named in the recorded declaration, and it approves tree removal as well as houses. Kenmure’s KARC approves exterior alterations, including landscaping and tree removal. Champion Hills’ CHARC must give prior written approval for any tree over 2 inches in diameter. Wolf Laurel’s ARB lists all tree removal and trimming among the items that require approval. Biltmore Forest is a town, so the approver is the Ordinance Administrator or the Board of Adjustment under a zoning chapter.

The county comes second. Wolf Laurel says it in the guidelines: building permits from the Yancey or Madison County building departments don’t assure or replace ARB approval. A KARC approval doesn’t waive Henderson County’s 0.5-acre erosion permit or the 25 ft trout buffer. Do you need a permit to clear land in NC covers that side.

What does the Biltmore Forest tree ordinance require?

Biltmore Forest adopted Chapter 153.050, Tree Preservation, by Ordinance 2023-06 on October 10, 2023. A protected tree is any tree 6 inches or more in diameter at 4.5 ft above ground in sound, healthy condition. Trees under 6 inches are unregulated. A tree of 6 inches or more that’s dead or structurally compromised is unprotected, and it can be removed after notifying the Town and getting the Ordinance Administrator’s approval, who may ask for a certified arborist’s written opinion.

No one removes or damages a protected tree without approval and the applicable fee. One to ten protected trees go to the Ordinance Administrator. More than ten in twelve successive months goes to the Board of Adjustment, up to thirty. The Administrator can refuse, cut the number, or require a tree survey with species and tags.

Replacement is the cost people miss. Every protected or unprotected tree removed gets replaced under Section 153.057, with ratios set by size and by whether the tree stood inside or outside the setback. At least 50 percent of replacements come from the Recommended Planting List and at least 25 percent from the Trees of Preference list. Trees of preference are 36 inches DBH or more, or native trees at 30 inches or more, and removing one triggers the 36-inch replanting tier. Replacements go in within six months of removal, with one six-month extension.

Unauthorized removal can bring a stop-work order on all activity on the property until the landscaping plan shows full replacement. The Town can require a bond and applies the penalties in Section 153.999. Forestry on land taxed as present-use value forestland is exempt while an active forest management plan is filed with the Town by January 31 each year.

Ordinance 2023-05 rewrote Section 153.034 the same night. A landscaping and grading plan is required for any land-disturbing activity that disturbs 20 percent or more of a lot’s area, including removal of natural vegetation. Before pre-construction land clearing, the Town holds a pre-construction conference, with the plans due seven days ahead. The Town’s page says to file the Request for Tree Removal, flag the trees, and photograph any imminent-threat tree before removing it.

What do Kenmure and Champion Hills require?

Kenmure, in Flat Rock, runs under a declaration approved August 5, 2013. Section 13 says no protected flowering plants, including native mountain laurel, rhododendron, and azalea, and no trees 6 inches or more in diameter measured 2 ft above ground, may be removed without prior written approval of KARC. Trees within 20 ft of the building or 10 ft of a driveway are excepted. Each tree removed without approval is a separate violation, with fines under G.S. 47F-3-102(12) after notice and a hearing.

Kenmure also controls who does the work. A contractor must hold a North Carolina license for the service and be approved by KPOA before any work in Kenmure. KPOA can levy road impact fees and require deposits, and KARC keeps a list of contractors holding a gate pass. A complete application KPOA doesn’t act on within thirty days is deemed approved.

Champion Hills, in Hendersonville, publishes Design and Construction Guidelines dated February 2021. Trees up to 2 inches in diameter, and dead trees, can be cut without approval. Anything larger needs prior written approval from CHARC, and trees within the golf course 50 ft setback need CHARC and the Club Board of Governors. No clear-cut removal is permitted. Requests for more than six trees are phased, six per phase, tagged, with one week of notice so a CHARC designee can be present. The committee can require replacement trees of at least 3.5 inches from its species list.

Construction runs 7:00 am to 6:30 pm Monday through Friday and 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Saturday, with nothing on Sundays or six listed holidays without written permission. Clearing can’t start earlier than thirty days before construction, erosion control goes in immediately after clearing, silt fence is trenched 8 inches, and all cut material leaves the site unless CHARC approves otherwise. Stumps within 20 ft of a road are ground to grade.

What do Wolf Laurel and The Cliffs require?

Wolf Laurel, above Mars Hill on the Madison and Yancey line, publishes Architectural Guidelines dated June 19, 2020 and amended May 21, 2021. All tree removal and trimming need ARB approval. Once a home site is approved, the owner can remove trees inside the Construction Footprint: the building plus 30 ft, the driveway plus 10 ft from centerline, and the septic system plus 10 ft. Outside the footprint, a Tree Removal Plan is required for any tree 8 inches or more at 3 ft above ground. General clearing of the site isn’t permitted.

Work hours are 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Thursday, 7 am to 5 pm Friday, 8 am to 4 pm Saturday, none on Sunday or holidays. No heavy trucks enter before 8 am or after noon on Saturday. Contractors state their destination to gate staff. Starting work without approval draws a fine of up to 100 dollars a day, a tree cutting deposit runs 25 to 1,000 dollars at the ARB Administrator’s discretion, and road-use fees are charged per truck against a construction deposit.

The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, in Arden, doesn’t publish its ARB guidelines on a public page, and nothing here characterizes its tree or clearing rules. Request the current ARB guidelines and the recorded declaration from the community office and send both to the contractor before the walk-through.

How do you run a clearing job behind a gate?

Get the approval in writing, then match the machine to the hours and the road. A compact tracked mulcher on a trailer is one lowboy load, one road-use fee, one gate entry. Selective forestry mulching is what these committees mean by “selective thinning with approval.” The steps:

1. Pull the recorded declaration and the current guidelines from the association office.
2. Tag every tree to be removed and every tree to be kept before the site visit.
3. File the request with a plan, then wait for the dated written approval.
4. Register the contractor and the gate pass, and confirm hours and holidays.
5. Stage equipment inside the lot line, never on the street overnight.
6. Install silt fence the day clearing starts, and haul or grind material as the approval states.

Biltmore Forest sits beside South Asheville, under a different chapter from the Asheville tree ordinance. Kenmure sits in Flat Rock. Building pad and envelope clearing covers the footprint work these committees approve first. Lot clearing and homesite prep and stump grinding are the services that show up most inside a gate. See more in the guides library.