Tree Protection Ordinance

In June of 2017, the City Council adopted a revised Chapter 38 – Tree Protection – of the City’s Code of Ordinances. This chapter of the code establishes the City’s Tree Board and provides articles for protecting publicly owned trees.  This revised ordinance was a two-year work of research and public meetings to strengthen the protection of the City’s Urban Forest while also being a more user friendly and readable document.

On March 4, 2020, City Council approved ordinance amendments to Chapter 38.  The Florida State Legislature and Governor approved, in 2019, Florida State Statute 163.045 titled “Tree pruning, trimming or removal on residential property”. This law prohibits local government from requiring residents to obtain a permit to remove a tree, on private residential property, if the property owner has proof from an arborist or landscape architect that the tree is a safety hazard. Since the City’s Tree Protection Ordinance conflicted with State Statute, the City Ordinance was amended.