Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea?

Section 30-480(a) makes it unlawful to cut down, destroy, remove, relocate or effectively destroy through damaging any tree within the Town which has a caliper of four inches or larger. What it requires first is approval by the Town and a permit from Broward County. Both apply to the same tree, and the measure is caliper rather than diameter at breast height.

What does a tree removal permit cost in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea?

The replacement side decides a budget rather than the application. Section 30-480(b) requires that removal, replacement, relocation or contribution to a landscape fund take place before a certificate of occupancy is granted on a development site. A Broward County Tree Removal License applies as well. The amounts attached to each are the Town’s and the County’s to state, so we confirm them with both before quoting rather than publish a figure we cannot cite.

Is a tree in the street handled separately in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea?

Section 17-5(b) provides that a tree planted or removed from any point within the lines of the street may be planted or removed only under permit from the Town Manager, and that any expense incurred is paid by the owner of the trees. Section 17-5(a) allows the Town Manager to have a tree or other obstacle that hinders or obstructs travel on a sidewalk or street removed at the expense of the abutting property owner, and the Town gives ten days’ notice before removing an obstruction itself.

Tree Removal Permits in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

Q: Does a dead tree have to come out in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea?

Section 30-480(a) makes it unlawful to allow any dead tree that has a caliper of four inches or larger to remain on any property. That clause is an affirmative duty rather than a restriction, and it sits in the same subsection as the removal requirement. The Town therefore both restricts removal and compels it, depending on the tree.

In Lauderdale-By-The-Sea the ordinance reaches a tree at four inches of caliper, and the subsection that restricts removal also compels it. Section 30-480(a) makes it unlawful to remove a tree of that size without approval by the Town and a permit from Broward County. The same subsection makes it unlawful to allow a dead tree of that size to remain on any 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?

Two authorities sit over a tree here. Broward County enforces Article XIV in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, so a county Tree Removal License is required alongside the Town approval, and our Broward County guide covers that layer. Section 30-480(a) states both requirements in one clause, so an application that satisfies one authority is still short of the other.

Section 30-480(a) is written against any tree within the Town. An association common area, a condominium parcel, a commercial site, a hotel, a medical campus or an institutional property is inside it on the general terms. The measure that decides scope is caliper rather than diameter at breast height. A diameter figure carried over from another jurisdiction therefore does not answer the question on a property here.

The residential position runs through the county code. Broward County Section 27-408(a)(3)(c) carries the exemption written for owner-occupied detached single-family and duplex property. Its conditions, and the tree categories it holds back, are set out in the Broward County guide. Section 30-480(a) is written against any tree within the Town, so which layer governs a particular house is settled with the Town and the County before anyone advises a homeowner.

What Needs a Permit

One thing to establish before treating four inches as the whole answer. The Town carries tree provisions in more than one chapter of its code, and the four inch caliper figure belongs to Section 30-480. We confirm with the Town whether any other provision reaches material below that size before advising that a smaller tree is outside the permit, because a threshold that turns out to be the wrong one costs a customer a violation rather than a filing fee.

Section 30-480(a) makes it unlawful to cut down, destroy, remove, relocate or effectively destroy through damaging any tree within the Town of four inches caliper or larger. What it requires first is approval by the Town and a permit from Broward County. The verb list is the part to read closely. Effectively destroying a tree through damaging it sits on the same list as removal, so work that leaves a tree standing can still be work the section covers.

The second clause of the same subsection runs the other way. It is unlawful to allow any dead tree that has a caliper of four inches or larger to remain on any property. That clause is an affirmative duty rather than a restriction, and it attaches to the property. The Town both restricts removal and compels it, depending on the tree.

Section 30-480(c) sets out an exemption, and the code states its terms. It covers removal of trees which cause immediate jeopardy to life, limb or property caused by an event of a storm, accident or other act of God of an emergency nature to be determined by the Town. The last clause is the operative one. The Town determines whether the emergency qualifies, so that judgment is not the contractor's or the owner's to make after the work is done.

Section 30-480(b) ties the tree permit to the development permit. Where removal or replacement of a tree occurs in conjunction with a development permit, the applications are considered part of the development site plan. The development permit is then issued only once the tree removal permit is approved. Removal, replacement, relocation or contribution to a landscape fund has to take place before a certificate of occupancy is granted.

Street trees carry a separate permit from a different official. Section 17-5(b) provides that when any tree is to be planted or removed from any point within the lines of the street, it may be planted or removed only under permit from the Town Manager. It is a second authorization from a different office, and a crew working at the pavement edge needs it before starting.

What It Costs

The obligation to budget for first is the replacement side rather than the application. Section 30-480(b) requires that removal, replacement, relocation or contribution to a landscape fund take place before a certificate of occupancy is granted on a development site. That is the item that scales with the canopy on the property. The code sets the obligation. The amounts attached to it are the Town's to state, so we confirm them before quoting rather than publish a figure we cannot cite.

Two further lines sit under it. The county Tree Removal License applies regardless of what the Town charges, and its cost belongs with the county side of the application. Section 17-5(b) then puts street tree expense on the owner: any expense incurred in planting or removing a tree within the lines of the street is paid by the owner of the trees. We settle both with the Town and with Broward County before a quote goes out.

One further cost arrives without an application at all. Where in the Town Manager's opinion a tree or other obstacle hinders or obstructs travel on any sidewalk or street, Section 17-5(a) has it removed at the expense of the owner of the abutting property. The Town gives ten days' notice before removing an obstruction itself.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Section 30-480(a) is written as a prohibition. Removing a tree of four inches caliper or larger without Town approval and a county permit is an unlawful act under the Town code. So is allowing a dead tree of that size to remain on the property. Two authorities can act on the same tree, because the subsection requires both. What each of them attaches to a violation is theirs to state, and we confirm both before quoting work that has already been started.

On a development site the consequence arrives through the schedule instead. Section 30-480(b) holds the development permit until the tree removal permit is approved, and holds the certificate of occupancy until removal, replacement, relocation or the landscape fund contribution has taken place. Neither of those is a fine. Both can stop a project that is otherwise finished.

What to Check With Your Contractor

The first thing to confirm is that both authorizations are in hand. Section 30-480(a) requires approval by the Town and a permit from Broward County for the same tree, so a crew holding one of the two is not cleared to begin. Ask for both before mobilization, and ask which number belongs to which authority. On a tree at the pavement edge, ask for the Town Manager permit under Section 17-5 as well, because that one comes from a different office.

The second is the emergency question, and it is settled before the saw runs rather than after. Under Section 30-480(c) the Town determines whether an event of a storm, accident or other act of God created the immediate jeopardy. A contractor cannot make that call on the Town's behalf once the tree is down. Section 30-480(a) also reaches effectively destroying a tree through damaging it, so damage caused in the course of other work can land in the same subsection as a removal.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. Whether every tree in scope reaches four inches of caliper, measured as caliper rather than at breast height. Whether the property carries a dead tree of that size, since Section 30-480(a) makes leaving it a matter for the Town. And whether anything in the scope sits within the lines of the street, which brings Section 17-5 and the Town Manager into it.

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 with the Town and with Broward County so both approvals move together. Our ISA Certified Arborist (NY-6948A) produces that report. 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 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. See landscaping services in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

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

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