Tree Removal Permits in Cutler Bay
Cutler Bay attaches a standing obligation to the building rather than to the job. Every nonresidential and multifamily development in the town owes a certification of landscape maintenance, prepared by a certified arborist or licensed landscape architect. It is filed annually for three years after occupancy and every three years after that, for the life of the property. 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?
Section 3-99 sets the trigger by property type, not by tree size. Concurrently with or following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for any nonresidential or multifamily development, the owner provides the certification. It must carry a count of plants by species, a general assessment of plant condition, and where applicable a timeline for replacement of any unhealthy, dead or missing plants. The town may also inspect at any time, whatever the filing says.
Two layers of rule apply here. The town's own landscape article at Sections 3-90 to 3-102 comes first. Where a minimum standard for landscaping or irrigation is not addressed there, the article hands the question to the county. It names Miami-Dade Chapter 18A, the county landscaping ordinance and landscape manual, Chapter 18B for right of way landscaping, and Chapter 24, the environmental protection ordinance. Where articles conflict, the town director decides which sections apply to your application.
The residential position runs through the county. Miami-Dade Section 24-49(4)(a) exempts ordinary yard trees at an existing single-family residence. The exemption holds only where the tree is not a specimen, is not in a natural forest community, and is not in the county right of way. We searched the town's tree and landscape chapters and found nothing stricter. A municipality is entitled to be stricter than the county and several in Miami-Dade are, so the town is worth a call before relying on it.
What Needs a Permit
Section 3-105(a) sets three thresholds for removal. Specimen trees over 18 inches in diameter are inside it. So are significant shrubs over 12 inches in diameter. Native tree and shrub species are inside it at over four inches in diameter. Four inches is a small trunk, so a native tree is caught by the section long before it reaches specimen size.
The route depends on why the tree is coming out. Section 3-105(a) says removal of those categories is permitted after obtaining site plan approval. It adds that in the event of hazards posed by vegetation, a tree removal permit from the county shall be obtained. The section joins the two with and/or, so a given removal may need town site plan approval, a county permit, or both. Settle which applies with the town before a crew is booked.
A second approval sits ahead of construction. The landscape plan must be approved before a building permit issues. For multifamily and nonresidential development it must be prepared by and bear the seal of a landscape architect registered in the state. It shows structures, parking, accessways, sidewalks, utilities and easements, and the height of power lines on the property or adjacent to it. It also shows common and scientific plant names with quantities, heights and spread, stormwater retention areas, required open space, and future canopy coverage.
What It Costs
The number that decides a budget in Cutler Bay is the replacement, not a permit fee. Section 3-105(b)(2) requires damaged vegetation to be replaced with an equal amount of new vegetation, sized to what was removed. Any tree with a DBH of at least 12 inches that is damaged or removed is replaced with one or more trees whose cumulative DBH equals or exceeds the original. Section 3-105(c) extends the duty to trees and landscape vegetation that die or are stressed, which must also be removed and replaced. A stressed tree, not only a dead one, carries the cost.
The certification itself is a standing line item rather than a one-off. It falls due annually for the first three years after occupancy and every three years after that, and only a certified arborist or licensed landscape architect can prepare it. Where landscaping is not installed before the certificate of occupancy, the town holds a bond. It is set at one and one-half times the cost of the uninstalled plant material and irrigation system, based on the highest estimate received.
The county permit fee cannot be quoted from the code. Miami-Dade Section 24-49.8 sets tree permit fees by separate administrative order approved by the Board of County Commissioners, and those amounts are not printed in the code. We obtain the current figure from the county before quoting. A rate published by another city is not the county's rate, and we do not substitute one for the other.
What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit
The town's first consequence is the corrective clock on the maintenance certification. Where the department issues a notice of noncompliance, corrective action begins within 30 days and finishes within 60. The town may inspect at any time, so a lapse is found on the town's schedule rather than on the property's. Section 3-105(b) then makes the disturbance of any landscaped area or vegetation required by the article a violation in itself, whether or not a tree came down. The disturbed area is replanted to the standards of the article or to the approved site plan.
For removals that run through the county permit, the penalties are the county's. Miami-Dade Section 24-49.5 sets the construction protection standard for trees, and Section 24-49.5(3) invokes the penalty provisions at Sections 24-29, 24-30 and 24-31. Section 24-49.4 sets the canopy-area replacement method the county applies. Those are county sections, so exposure for an unpermitted removal is set at county level, and we read them against the specific trees before advising.
What to Check With Your Contractor
Cutler Bay names the trade directly in Section 14-21. Topping any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property is unlawful as a normal practice for any person, firm or government department. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes, and certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical, may be exempted. That exemption comes by written notification from staff for each instance, so a standing arrangement does not cover the next job.
Subsection (c) names a tree care company alongside utilities, citizens and government departments. None of them may trench, cut, grade, clear or fill within the critical root zone of any public tree. That work needs the expressed written consent of the town manager or a designee. Separately, nothing is planted, installed or placed within a utility easement, drainage easement or right of way without consent. That consent comes from the town, the county or state department of transportation, and the easement holder.
What to Do Next
Before tree work is scheduled in Cutler Bay, settle three things. Which threshold the trees cross, since specimen, significant shrub and native species each start at a different diameter. Whether the removal runs through town site plan approval, a county permit, or both. And what the replacement will total in cumulative DBH, because that is the number the budget turns on. Street tree minimums come from the town's street tree master plan dated December 2008, a document separate from the code.
We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees, document species, size and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file the permit, and handle replacement planting to the cumulative DBH the code requires. We also prepare and file the annual and triennial certification of landscape maintenance. 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.
The information presented on this page was accurate as of 30 August 2026.
Related Services
Request a Proposal
Thank you for your message
We will get back to you shortly
Please fill in all required fields
Your message could not be sent
Please call or email us directly (954) 583-4752 / hello@twqlandscaping.com