What happens if a tree is removed in Davie without a permit?

Section 12-147 makes the violator responsible for obtaining an after-the-fact tree removal permit, and Section 12-156 sets replacement for a tree removed without a permit at one hundred fifty percent of the DBH. Replacement trees must carry a DBH equal to or greater than the tree removed, remedial action is due within sixty days of the town notice, and the section places the obligation on the violator rather than on the owner.

Tree Removal Permits in Davie

Q: What standard does Davie apply to a tree removal permit?

Section 12-154(a) of the Town of Davie code states that a tree may be removed or relocated only when the applicant has demonstrated to the town that an otherwise lawful development cannot be conducted on the site without the removal or relocation, and that there is no practical way to avoid it. Six factors are weighed, including whether every reasonable effort was made to incorporate existing trees and whether damage to improvements can be corrected by root pruning or canopy reduction.

Q: What does a tree removal permit cost in Davie?

The figure that decides a budget is the replacement obligation rather than the fee. Section 12-156 requires the total DBH removed to be replaced or mitigated, at one hundred fifty percent where trees are removed solely to accommodate site development, where reasonable efforts to avoid removal have not been demonstrated, or where trees replace trees removed without a permit. The application fee under Section 12-153 and the schedule of tree mitigation values behind the Section 12-159 trust fund payment are both set by resolution of the Town Council, so both amounts come from the town.

Section 12-154(a) of the Davie code sets the standard for a tree removal or relocation permit: a tree may be removed or relocated only when the applicant has demonstrated to the town that an otherwise lawful development cannot be conducted on the site without the removal or relocation, and that there is no practical way to avoid it. The test is tied to development, and the burden of demonstrating it sits with the applicant. 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?

Davie holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, so the town code is the document that governs a tree here. That certification is not permanent. Section 12-153 names who may apply: the fee simple owner, after verified documentation of ownership, or the owner's agent, the lessee, an optionee, a contract purchaser, or an easement holder, where the removal is consistent with the use granted by the easement.

The single-family position in Davie is written around a credential. Section 12-152 exempts, at paragraph (2), removal of a tree on a developed single-family lot that has been determined to pose an unacceptable risk to persons or property by an arborist certified by the ISA or a Florida licensed landscape architect, in accordance with Florida Statutes Section 163.045. The exemption is conditioned on that determination, and an owner cannot self-certify the risk.

What Needs a Permit

The sections read here set the standard by that development test rather than by a trunk diameter, so they do not tell you what size tree brings a property inside the ordinance. That is worth settling with the town before work is scheduled, because it decides whether an application is needed at all rather than how the application is judged.

Section 12-154 weighs six factors toward the removal decision: whether the applicant made every reasonable effort to incorporate existing trees, whether the number of trees is the minimum necessary, poor health or quality, likely damage to improvements where that damage cannot be corrected by accepted practices such as root pruning or canopy reduction, overcrowding, and obstruction of safe vehicular cross visibility.

Section 12-155 places a further step ahead of removal. Before the town issues a tree removal permit that allows the replacement of any tree, the applicant must demonstrate that relocation is not a viable alternative. Any relocation proposed requires a tree relocation plan acceptable to the town, and the town may require a bond under Section 12-161 to ensure survivability. Replacement is what follows once relocation has been ruled out.

Section 12-152 also exempts removal of a tree that, due to disease or other natural causes, has become structurally compromised to the extent that its continued existence threatens the health or safety of contiguous persons or property. The condition attached runs before the work rather than after it: the owner must be able to document that the condition existed prior to removal. For a specimen tree, that documentation must reach the town within forty-eight hours of the removal. Photograph the tree before it comes down.

What It Costs

The figure that decides a budget in Davie is the replacement obligation, and it is measured in trunk diameter rather than in dollars. Section 12-156 requires a tree mitigation plan showing that the total DBH of trees to be removed will be replaced or mitigated, at one hundred fifty percent where trees are replaced solely to accommodate site development, where reasonable efforts to avoid removal have not been demonstrated, and where trees replace trees removed without first obtaining a permit.

Section 12-156 specifies the replacement stock by type, which is where a DBH figure turns into a planting cost. Shade and canopy trees may only be replaced with shade or canopy trees at a minimum two and a half inch DBH and twelve to fourteen feet overall height. Palms may be replaced with palms at a minimum twelve to fourteen feet, or one shade tree per palm. Pines may only be replaced with pines at seven feet overall, or one shade tree per pine.

Two cash figures sit outside the code. Where the town determines that replacement trees cannot be provided under Sections 12-155 or 12-156, Section 12-159 requires a replacement fee paid into the tree preservation trust fund at the schedule of tree mitigation values adopted by resolution of the Town Council. Specimen trees are priced separately under Section 12-160. The application fee is set the same way, and Section 12-153 makes it non-refundable, unusable on any other application, and subject to a further fee for any substantial deviation.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Section 12-147 treats a tree taken down without a permit as a remedial obligation rather than as a fine alone. The violator is responsible for obtaining an after-the-fact tree removal permit, and Section 12-156 puts that tree's replacement in at one hundred fifty percent. Replacement trees must carry a DBH equal to or greater than the DBH of the abused tree, and more than one tree may be used where the aggregate DBH reaches that figure.

Tree abuse short of removal runs in two tiers. Where the natural habit of growth is not destroyed, the violator takes the remedial actions the town determines are reasonably necessary to aid the long term recovery of the tree. Where it is destroyed, the violator obtains a removal permit under division 3, removes the abused tree, and completes the corrective action the town requires. That work is due within sixty days of the town notice, and Section 12-147 names the violator rather than the owner, so where the abuse is the contractor's the obligation lands on the contractor.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Davie regulates the trade directly. Section 12-144 requires a current, valid Broward County Tree Trimmer's license for any business that performs tree trimming in the town, plus a current business tax and a current annual Davie tree trimmer registration certificate, with a photocopy of each document available for inspection at each job site. At each worksite, at all times, at least one person present must carry on their person a current, valid Broward County Tree Trimmer's Licensing Ordinance Training card.

Section 12-144(b) binds the work to ANSI A-300 for tree, shrub and other woody plant maintenance and to ANSI Z-133.1, the safety standard for pruning, repairing, maintaining and removing trees. Section 12-162 then binds the contractor and the owner jointly during construction, land development or land clearing: protective barriers of sturdy material rather than flagging or ribbons around the drip line of every tree to be retained, no materials or equipment stored or used inside that line, and clearing there by hand or with light rubbered wheeled equipment.

Section 12-162 also bars any change to the natural grade above the root system inside the drip line unless it can be demonstrated to the town that it will not damage any tree, and requires pruning of preserved trees to follow ANSI A-300, or, for palms, the standards in Arboriculture Second Edition by Richard W. Harris. Section 12-154(d) adds that the permittee shall only remove the trees specified in the permit, and damage to any other tree is a violation. The permit runs one year from issuance.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Davie. Whether the scope can be presented under Section 12-154 as an otherwise lawful development that cannot be conducted without the removal. Whether relocation can be ruled out, since Section 12-155 asks that before replacement. And what the town's current mitigation values and application fee are, since both are set by council resolution rather than printed in the code. The application also needs a certified tree survey and site plan prepared by a person qualified under state law.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees, record species, diameter and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file the permit, set protective barriers to the standard Section 12-162 names, and handle replacement planting. 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 Davie. See landscaping services in Davie.

The information presented on this page was accurate as of 23 August 2026.

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