Tree Removal Permits in Homestead
Homestead keeps its tree permit in house. Section 29-5 of the City Code provides that tree removal permits, or natural forest community vegetation removal permits, are required prior to the removal of trees, specimen trees, or any vegetation in a natural forest community, respectively, pursuant to section 29-60 of the City Code. The same section makes the development services department responsible for administering and enforcing those provisions, so the application is a city application and the enforcement conversation is a city conversation. 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 29-5 is written around what is being removed rather than around who owns the land. It names three things: trees, specimen trees, and any vegetation in a natural forest community. An association common area, a condominium parcel, a commercial or industrial site, a hotel, a school or a medical campus is read against those same three categories. The first question on a Homestead site is which of the three the work in front of you falls into.
Two site conditions move part of the work to the county. Section 29-60 provides that mangrove trees located anywhere in the city shall be subject to the permitting requirements of Article II of Chapter 24 of the Code of Ordinances of Miami-Dade County. The same provision reaches land which is so defined as wetlands, and what the section counts as wetlands is worth settling with the city before an application goes in. Miami-Dade County is the permitting authority that Section 29-60 sends that work to, and our Miami-Dade County guide sets out that layer.
What Needs a Permit
The permit attaches before the work rather than after it. Section 29-5 requires it prior to the removal, and it splits the requirement in two. Tree removal permits go with trees and specimen trees. Natural forest community vegetation removal permits go with any vegetation in a natural forest community. On a site that touches a natural forest community, that second permit is its own application, and which of the two a job needs is the first thing to settle with development services.
Section 29-12 prohibits tree abuse, and provides that abused trees shall not be counted toward fulfilling the minimum tree requirements. That reaches work nobody filed a removal for, because the tree is still standing when the problem arises. A hard reduction on a mature canopy can leave the tree in place and leave the property short against the chapter minimum at the same time. What the section treats as abuse on a particular tree is worth putting to development services before a crew starts.
What It Costs
Start with what goes back in the ground rather than with the permit. Section 29-12 refers to minimum tree requirements that the trees on a site count toward, and it takes abused trees out of that count. Planting to satisfy a minimum is the item that moves a budget on a property with several trees in scope. The amount the city charges to process the permit is confirmed with the development services department before a proposal goes out, and we put no figure in front of a board until the department gives it.
Section 29-12 narrows the planting list before a species is chosen, and that narrowing is a cost. Queen palms and coconut palms shall not be allowed as street trees. Palm species and varieties listed in the Landscape Manual that are known to be moderately susceptible to Lethal Yellowing disease shall not be allowed. Cycad species known to be highly susceptible to the Thai or aulacaspis scale, which are primarily sago palms in the genus Cycas, shall not be allowed. Plants of the species Ficus shall not be allowed.
Location narrows it further. Section 29-12 provides that controlled species shall not be planted within five hundred feet of a natural forest community or native habitats, so one part of a site can carry a shorter list than another part of the same site. Where the job is mangrove work, or work on land the code defines as wetlands, Miami-Dade County permitting is in the sequence. Any county amount is obtained from the county before quoting, rather than carried across from another city published rate.
What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit
Section 29-5 places both administration and enforcement of these provisions with the development services department, so the discussion after the fact is with the city. We quote no penalty figure for Homestead. What the city assesses is confirmed with development services before anyone relies on a number, including a number a contractor has already quoted. The fixed point in the section is sequence. The permit is required prior to the removal, which means the filing comes first and the crew comes second.
One route into trouble here does not involve a removal at all. A tree that comes through a trim alive can still be an abused tree under Section 29-12, and an abused tree stops counting toward the minimum tree requirements. The cost then lands on planting rather than on the permit, and it lands on a job that was scheduled and approved as maintenance. That is worth a line in any pruning scope written for a Homestead property.
What to Check With Your Contractor
Settle which permit the job needs against the three categories in Section 29-5 rather than against the size of the tree. Ask whether a mangrove is in scope anywhere on the property, and whether the parcel carries the wetlands condition in Section 29-60, because that brings the county into the sequence alongside the city. Ask what the department wants filed with the application, since the drawing standard sits in the chapter rather than with the applicant.
Chapter 29 defines a vegetation survey as a drawing provided at the same scale as the landscape plan which includes relevant information as required by this chapter. That definition ties the survey to a landscape plan, which is a development submittal. Whether one is called for on a standalone removal at a built property is a question for development services rather than something to assume in either direction.
Where a replacement is going in near a line, position matters as much as species. Section 29-12 provides that tall growing palms such as royal palms, Washington fan palms, foxtail palms and coconut palms shall not be planted under power lines, so the species list and the planting plan have to be read together. TWQ crews stay at least ten feet from energized conductors, and anything closer than that is coordinated with the utility. That scope boundary is worth confirming with any contractor before a crew is booked under overhead lines.
What to Do Next
Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Homestead. Which of the three categories in Section 29-5 the work falls into, and therefore which permit is filed. Whether a mangrove is in scope, or the parcel carries the wetlands condition, because Section 29-60 sends that work to Miami-Dade County. And what goes back in the ground, because Section 29-12 rules named palm and cycad species, and Ficus, out of the planting list before the first number is written.
We settle all three before quoting. We inspect the trees, document species, size and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file with the development services department, and plan replacement planting against the species the chapter allows. 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 24 August 2026.
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