Tree Removal Permits in Deerfield Beach

The Deerfield Beach tree ordinance is Section 98-81, Tree preservation. It sits in the Land Development Code, which the city publishes as a product separate from the Code of Ordinances. The section states its purpose as preserving the tree canopy of the City of Deerfield Beach by regulating the cutting, trimming and pruning of its trees. Trimming and pruning stand in that clause alongside removal. 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?

Deerfield Beach holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, so the city code is the document that governs a tree here. That certification is not permanent, which makes it worth confirming who is enforcing before an application goes in. The purpose clause of Section 98-81 reaches the tree canopy of the City of Deerfield Beach. On those terms a commercial site, an association common area, a condominium parcel, a hotel or an institutional campus is addressed by the section.

Section 98-80, Landscape requirements, sets when a landscape plan is called for, and it reaches a single-family home or duplex where that home or duplex forms part of a development project. What that section settles is the landscape plan. Whether a tree on such a lot may be taken down is a question the tree provisions in Section 98-81 answer, and the two are settled separately rather than together.

What Needs a Permit

Because Section 98-81 names cutting, trimming and pruning in its own purposes, a scope written as maintenance answers to the same section as one written as removal. Where the code sets a size, it sets it by caliper. Caliper means diameter at breast height, DBH, of a dicot or conifer tree trunk measured four and one half feet above the ground. Caliper of a monocot is the diameter of the tree trunk measured one foot above the ground.

A palm is a monocot, so the measurement on a palm is taken one foot above the ground rather than at breast height. That changes the number a contractor writes on the application, and it is worth checking on any inventory that mixes palms and shade trees. The trunk diameter and the overall height at which the definition of a tree begins are figures we confirm with the city before advising on a specific tree.

The exemptions in the section include a route for a hazardous tree, and it carries its own proof requirement. It covers removal of any tree that is hazardous to the extent that its continued existence creates an imminent threat to public safety or property. To claim it, the owner may document by photographs or other evidence that the condition existed prior to the removal. The photographs are taken while the tree is still standing, which a storm crew needs to be told in advance.

For a Natural Forest Community, a specimen tree or a historic tree, documentation of the condition must be presented to the city landscaper within 48 hours of removal. The section carries further exemptions. They cover suspension of the section by the city manager during a hurricane or other disaster. They also cover removal of planted landscape trees before a certificate of occupancy issues, and removal of tree species in regulated waters as exempted by the Broward ordinance.

What It Costs

The obligation that follows a Deerfield Beach permit outlasts the invoice. Where trees have been replaced or relocated, the original permittee and the owner of the property must place of record a notice. It informs subsequent purchasers, assigns and occupants of the replacement site that trees there require a valid tree removal permit before removal. That is a recorded instrument against the property, so it reaches the next owner and the closing table rather than ending with the crew that planted the tree.

Budget the replacement obligation and the recorded notice first, and settle the fee second. The permit fee under Section 98-81, and the amounts the city charges on an application, are figures we confirm with the city before quoting. Each number we publish traces to the section it comes from. On a property with mature canopy, the replacement planting is the line that moves a budget.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

The amounts Deerfield Beach charges for a violation are figures we confirm with the city. What Section 98-81 settles is where an owner's position is proved. A tree taken down under the hazardous exemption is defended by photographs or other evidence that the condition existed prior to the removal, so the record is made before the saw comes out. For a specimen tree, a historic tree or one in a Natural Forest Community, that documentation reaches the city landscaper inside 48 hours.

The permit requirement also follows a replacement site forward. Once the notice is recorded, a subsequent purchaser, assign or occupant is on notice that trees on that site require a valid tree removal permit before removal. On an association property that means trees planted under an old permit are still permitted trees years later, under a different board.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Section 98-81 adopts two outside publications as the interpretive default, and names the latest editions of each. They are the Tree Protection Manual for Builders and Developers, by the Florida Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry, and Standards for Pruning Shade Trees, by the National Arborist Association. A question about how a tree in Deerfield Beach was cut is measured against those two documents, so they belong in a scope of work by name.

Hatracking has its own definition in the section. It means to flat-cut the top of a tree, severing the leader or leaders, or to prune a tree by stubbing off mature wood. It also covers reducing the total circumference or canopy spread not in conformance with National Arborists Association standards. The definition closes with any trimming which alters the natural characteristics of the species, which reaches past topping. Shaping and topiary are defined separately and are limited to cuts of one inch in diameter or less.

Debris is a named duty under Section 58-34, written to the trade rather than to the owner. Privately employed tree trimmers, tree surgeons, landscape contractors and lawn maintenance services who receive a fee must remove all trash and debris from the premises where they work. The section names limbs, tree trunks, roots, shrubbery, grass clippings and bulky yard and vegetative wastes, and requires proper disposal. The paved street abutting the property and adjacent property are left clear of lawn trash and grass clippings, and bulky yard or vegetative waste is kept out of refuse containers.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Deerfield Beach. Whether every tree and palm in scope has been measured at the right point, four and one half feet for a dicot or conifer and one foot for a monocot. Whether the scope includes trimming that would meet the definition of hatracking. And whether any tree on the site was planted as a replacement or a relocation under an earlier permit, since that carries the recorded notice.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees, record species, caliper and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, and file the permit under Section 98-81. Where a tree comes out under the hazardous exemption, we document the condition before the removal and deliver that record to the city landscaper inside the 48 hours where it applies. Our crews clear the site to what Section 58-34 requires.

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 Deerfield Beach. See landscaping services in Deerfield Beach.

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

Related Services

• Tree Care (Overview)
• Tree Trimming & Pruning
• Root Pruning
• Palm Tree Care
• Palm Tree Strapping
• Tree Removal
• Invasive Tree Species Removal
• Emergency Tree Services
• Tree Health & Risk Assessments
• Tree Inventory & Management Plans