A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT authorizing the town of aberdeen to regulate the removal of trees within its territorial and extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Town of Aberdeen may adopt ordinances to regulate the removal of trees from public and private property within its corporate limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction in order to preserve, protect, and enhance an important natural resource and to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens.  The purposes for which ordinances may be adopted pursuant to this act may include, but shall not be limited to, the following: the prevention of soil erosion and sedimentation, shade and reducing the effects of heat islands, specimen tree protection, heritage tree protection, water quality, and wetland or other ecosystem protection.  
SECTION 2. Any ordinances adopted by the Town pursuant to this act shall comply with the requirements of G.S. 160A‑458.5.  No ordinance adopted pursuant to this act shall apply to agricultural, horticultural, or forest land currently in present‑use value taxation pursuant to G.S. 105‑277.4 or to land that is currently being used for bona fide farm purposes, as that term is used in G.S. 153A‑340(b)(2).
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.