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Tree Removal Permits in Bay Harbor Islands

Bay Harbor Islands prohibits tree removal unless one of three grounds applies. The tree must be diseased or dead, classified as invasive on the Miami-Dade County prohibited species list, or causing damage to utilities, roadways or sidewalks. A healthy tree standing in an inconvenient place meets none of the three, so whether the work can be permitted at all is settled before what it will cost. TWQ Landscaping prepares and files these applications, and our ISA Certified Arborist (NY-6948A) produces the supporting report where one is required.

Does This Apply to Your Property?

The town's own requirement reaches every property. Section 24-16.1 provides that in Bay Harbor Islands a tree removal or relocation permit is required for all properties, including single-family and two-family. A condominium parcel, an association common area, a commercial site or a hotel sits inside that language. Relocation is named alongside removal, so moving a tree to another part of the site is permitted work.

A second agency sits behind the town. The same section requires a tree removal permit from the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Protection, DERM, before any removal, except on single-family and two-family sites. Those two are the exception to the county requirement rather than to the town's. On a multifamily, commercial or institutional property, plan the schedule around both.

The route through town hall is named separately for the property types we maintain. Section 24-16.1 sends multifamily, commercial and community facilities and parks to site development plan approval under Section 5.23.1 instead of the tree permit set out below. What that approval involves is settled with the town, and it is the first call to make. It decides which application you are preparing and when tree work can be scheduled.

What Needs a Permit

A permit is required for removal and for relocation. Section 24-16.1 allows removal on three grounds and no others. The tree is diseased or dead, classified as invasive on the Miami-Dade County prohibited species list, or causing damage to utilities, roadways or sidewalks. A tree dropping fruit on parked cars or standing where an improvement is planned is not among them, so the case for removal rests on the tree's condition.

The application turns on a professional's written statement. Section 24-16.1 requires a detailed written statement from a licensed arborist or landscape architect, justifying the land clearing, dripline encroachment and the removal, relocation or replacement of trees. It must propose measures for replacing or relocating removed or damaged trees. It must state the amount of land to be disturbed, the method and equipment to be used, and the dates of the work. Method, equipment and dates fixed in advance make that a work plan rather than a form.

All requests for tree removal must be accompanied by a current survey, dated within the last six months. It shows all physical improvements on the lot, within the adjacent public right-of-way, and on adjacent lots within ten feet of the property line. It also locates existing structures including the building pad, dimensioned and referenced to property lines, setbacks and yard requirements, and all existing utility services and easements.

Every tree on the site goes on that survey by common and botanical name, size and location, specifically designated by number. Groups of nuisance trees in close proximity may be shown as clumps, with the predominant type noted. The trees are then tagged and identified consistently with the numbering system utilized on the tree survey. That is a field task as well as a drafting one, because the tags on the trunks have to match the drawing.

What It Costs

The number that decides a budget here is the value of the trees rather than a counter fee. Section 24-16.1 requires replacement. Where replacement as specified is not feasible, the property owner may opt to contribute an amount equivalent to the value of the trees to the town's tree trust fund. Value is the measure, so the obligation scales with what is removed. We confirm the replacement figures with the town before quoting.

There is a middle option between replanting on site and paying. Where on-site replanting is not feasible, the owner may seek permission to replant at an alternate location within the town, or contribute to the tree trust fund. Section 24-16.1 provides that the fund will be used solely for the design, acquisition and planting of trees or other equivalent landscaping within the town. It will not be used for general revenue purposes.

The permit fee is not a figure we can take from the code. Section 24-16.1 sets out what an application must contain rather than what it costs, so we obtain the current fee from the town before quoting. Two costs sit in front of you at the application stage: a survey current within six months, and the written statement from a licensed arborist or landscape architect. Both are procured before anything is filed.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Start from the prohibition rather than from the paperwork. Section 24-16.1 allows removal on three grounds, so a healthy tree taken down without a permit is a tree that could not have been permitted. That is a different position from filing late, because the grounds for approval were never there. The replacement duty in the same section still attaches to what was removed.

The dollar exposure is settled with the town rather than quoted. The sections cited here establish the prohibition, the application requirements, the replacement duty and the tree trust fund alternative. Before we tell a client what an unpermitted removal costs in Bay Harbor Islands, we get the penalty figures from the town. A number carried over from another municipality is not this town's number.

What to Check With Your Contractor

The application names the company doing the work, not the owner alone. Section 24-16.1 requires the name, address and telephone number of the owner, and of those persons or entities conducting the removal activities. The contractor is identified to the town before a tree is touched. With the arborist's statement fixing method, equipment and dates, the town has a description of who is coming, with what, and when.

Section 24-16.10 covers site development. Trees designated for preservation must be enclosed with protective barriers at the drip line of each tree or cluster, or at least six feet from the trunk, whichever is greater. Where the drip line reaches further than six feet, it governs, and six feet is the floor. Section 24-16.3 defines clearance pruning by reference to the current ANSI A300 Standards, so the specification is published rather than left to the crew.

What to Do Next

Four things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled. Whether the tree meets one of the three grounds, because nothing else proceeds until it does. Whether your property goes to site development plan approval under Section 5.23.1 rather than to the tree permit. Whether the survey on file is dated within the last six months. And who writes the justification, because the code names a licensed arborist or landscape architect.

We settle all four before quoting. We inspect the trees, record the common and botanical name, size and location for the survey numbering, and tag the trees to match. We prepare the written justification with the method, equipment and dates the code requires, and file the application. We install protection barriers, and handle replacement planting or the trust fund contribution. TWQ Landscaping handles tree permitting for the properties we maintain across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade: community associations and condominiums, commercial and industrial sites, medical and senior living campuses, schools, religious campuses, hotels, multifamily rental, self-storage, dealerships, retail outparcels, marinas, mobile home communities, municipal grounds and mixed-use. Call (954) 583-4752 or request a proposal.

TWQ Landscaping maintains commercial and community association property in Bay Harbor Islands. See landscaping services in Bay Harbor Islands.

The information presented on this page was accurate as of 30 August 2026.

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