Tree Removal Permits in Lantana

In Lantana the permit is not triggered only by cutting a tree down. Section 10.5-3 reaches any act that physically removes a protected tree or causes a tree to die. It names hatracking and over-pruning inside that list, alongside root damage inflicted by heavy machinery, chemicals or paving. A crew can cross that line with the tree still standing. 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 10.5-3 is written to the parties rather than to the property type. It reaches a person, an organization, a society, an association or a corporation, and any agent or representative of one, acting directly or indirectly. A condominium association, a master association, a management company and the crew on site each sit inside that sentence. A board that instructs a contractor is reached by the words directly or indirectly.

The two Palm Beach County articles we read do not create a general permit to remove an ordinary tree, so on a removal in Lantana the town rule is the one that governs. Our Palm Beach County guide sets out the county position. For a detached single-family residence, Florida Statutes Section 163.045 remains available on documentation from an ISA certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect. Section 10.5-3 lists trees removed under that statute among its exemptions, and Section 10.5-29 carries it across to enforcement.

What Needs a Permit

Section 10.5-4(a) sets the permit procedures and criteria for site clearing, and for the removal or relocation of protected trees. It routes the exceptions through three places: Florida Statutes Section 163.045, Section 10.5-3, and a permit already issued under Section 10.5-21. Which trees on your site are protected trees is the question to settle with the town first, because every trigger in the chapter turns on that term.

The application is a site document rather than a form. It has to show the lot configuration, existing and proposed improvements, preserve areas, all trees to be used for mitigation credit, and a tree survey. Protected trees to be removed, relocated or retained are identified by botanical or common name and DBH. The improvements item is drawn broadly, down to water retention areas, grade changes, easements and rights-of-way. A written justification explaining why the protected tree is proposed to be removed goes in with it.

Two of the required items describe how the crew will work. Item e is the location of ingress and egress corridors and staging areas. Item f is the location of temporary protection barriers. Both belong on the plan filed with the application, so the truck route, the staging ground and the barrier line around each retained tree are settled before filing rather than on the morning of the job.

Section 10.5-3 carries four exemptions, and imminent danger is the one that matters in the field. Where a tree poses imminent danger to the public health, welfare or safety and requires immediate removal without delay, verbal authorization to remove it may be given by the building official or a designee. That is the route for a storm-damaged tree that cannot wait. The other three cover nursery and botanical stock grown for sale, a temporary waiver during a declared emergency such as a hurricane or flood, and trees removed under Florida Statutes Section 163.045.

What It Costs

The number that decides a budget in Lantana is replacement, not the application fee. The permit is styled a tree removal and replacement permit, and item g of the application calls for the location of all trees to be used for mitigation credit. Section 10.5-5 then sets what a retained tree is worth against that obligation. Deciding which trees stay is a budget decision taken at survey stage.

The credit runs on a size ladder measured at DBH. A preserved tree under six inches counts as one tree. A preserved tree of six inches or greater counts as two. A preserved tree of two feet, which is twenty four inches, or greater counts as three. A tree of three feet, which is thirty six inches, or greater may be removed only on review and approval of the development services director. The section provides that the director may assign any reasonable credit.

The ladder excludes several categories from credit. Trees required to be preserved by law sit outside it, and so do prohibited or restricted species and dead or diseased trees. So does a tree the section describes as not properly protected from damage during the construction process. Section 10.5-5 extends that last one to trees that are dead, dying or diseased at final inspection because of construction harm.

The application fee itself sits outside the chapter. Item i requires an application fee, the amount of which is set by resolution of the town council. The figure therefore lives in a resolution rather than in Chapter 10.5, and we confirm the current amount with the town before quoting. That same figure sets the exposure on an unpermitted job, because Section 10.5-29 provides for a triple permit fee for removal of trees without a valid tree removal and replacement permit.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Enforcement runs on more than the fee consequence set out above. Section 10.5-29 also provides for fines under Town Code Section 2-55 and Chapter 162, Florida Statutes. Violations are referable to the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate for corrective actions as well as civil penalties. Corrective action is the part worth planning around, because it is an order about the site rather than a line on an invoice.

Section 10.5-3 decides who answers for it. The prohibition reaches any agent or representative of the owner, acting directly or indirectly, so the contractor is a named target and not only the party that signed the contract. It also reaches an act that causes a tree to die rather than one that takes it down. That is how a hatracked or over-pruned tree becomes an enforcement matter even though nothing was cut down.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Three things in Chapter 10.5 land on the crew rather than on the owner. Hatracking and over-pruning sit inside the section that requires a permit, so a trim written into a scope without regard to that is a permit problem and not a workmanship complaint. Root damage from heavy machinery, chemicals or paving, and grade change above the root system, are named the same way.

The third is the barrier line. Section 10.5-5 withholds credit for a tree not properly protected from damage during the construction process, and reaches trees that are dead, dying or diseased at final inspection because of construction harm. Ask for the ingress and egress corridors, the staging areas and the protection barriers to be set where the application drawing shows them, and settle who answers if a retained tree fails at final inspection.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Lantana. Which trees on the site are protected trees, and their identity by botanical or common name and DBH. Where the crew will enter, stage and set barriers, because items e and f have to be on the plan. And what the application fee stands at under the town council resolution, alongside the credit the retained trees earn.

We settle all three before quoting. We inspect the trees and document species, size and condition. We prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, draw the ingress, staging and barrier detail the plan has to show, and file the permit with the written justification. We handle replacement planting where the credit calculation leaves an obligation. 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 Lantana. See landscaping services in Lantana.

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

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