Tree Removal Permits in Lauderhill
In Lauderhill the tree removal permit is written to reach any tree. Section 6.8.5 of the Code of Ordinances prohibits the removal of any tree without first obtaining a tree removal permit from the City. The same section prohibits tree abuse, and it prohibits encroachment, excavation or a change of the natural grade within a tree's drip line unless the effect on the tree is demonstrated to the City beforehand. 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 6.8.5 is written against any tree, so a condominium parcel, an association common area, a commercial site, a medical campus or an industrial property is inside it on the general terms. Lauderhill holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, which makes the city the authority you apply to. Certification is not permanent, and our Broward County guide covers the county layer.
The residential position runs through the county. Broward County Section 27-408(a)(3)(c) carries an exemption covering the removal of a tree on owner-occupied residential property of one acre or less that is developed for detached single-family or duplex use. Previously preserved or replaced trees stay outside that exemption, and so do historical and specimen trees. Certified municipalities administer their own program and may be stricter than the county, so which rule governs a house is worth settling with Lauderhill first.
What Needs a Permit
Section 6.8.5 sets out the general prohibitions, and four of them shape an ordinary scope of work. Removing any tree requires a tree removal permit from the City first. Removing a historical tree requires approval from the Commission. Tree abuse is prohibited in its own right. And any encroachment, excavation or change of the natural grade within the drip line of a tree is prohibited, unless the effect on the tree is demonstrated to the City before the activity begins.
The historical tree route is the one to plan around. That approval comes from the Commission rather than from the permit counter, so it runs on a meeting cycle. Identify any historical tree in the scope before a crew is booked, and treat the Commission step as its own line in the schedule rather than as part of the permit turnaround.
How a tree is measured decides which line of the fee schedule it lands on, and Section 6.8 sets two measuring points. Trunk caliper, meaning trunk diameter, is measured six inches from the ground on trees up to and including four inches in caliper, and twelve inches above the ground for larger trees. On a tree with multiple trunks, the DBH is the sum of the individual trunk diameters at breast height, so each trunk is measured and the figures added together.
Nuisance trees as defined by Section 6.8 are exempt from the prohibitions set out in that section, which makes correct species identification part of scoping the job rather than a detail for the report. We confirm the contents of the tree removal permit application package with the city before filing, so an application is not returned for a missing item after a crew has been scheduled.
What It Costs
Two amounts are settled with the city before the permit fee matters: what mitigation Lauderhill will require, and what the city assesses for a removal carried out without a permit. We confirm both with the city before either goes into a budget, and we give a board neither figure until the city has given it to us. A permit fee quoted on its own does not describe what a removal costs on a property carrying mature canopy.
The permit fee itself is published at Section 1.8 of the code. Multi-family and non-residential properties are assessed per tree, based on the caliper of the tree. A tree up to twelve inches is $25.00. Twelve to eighteen inches is $50.00. Eighteen to twenty-four inches is $75.00. Each additional six inches above twenty-four adds $25.00, so a thirty-six inch tree is $125.00. Because the charge runs per tree rather than per application, a multi-tree scope is priced line by line.
Single-family properties are charged a flat $50.00 under the same section, regardless of how many trees are on the application. That distinction matters to a master association or a mixed-use portfolio holding both kinds of parcel, because the same crew visit can be billed two different ways. The schedule was last amended by Ord. No. 24O-07-125, adopted 26 August 2024.
What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit
Removing a tree without a tree removal permit is prohibited by Section 6.8.5(b), and removing a historical tree without Commission approval is prohibited by Section 6.8.5(a). Tree abuse is prohibited under the same section. What Lauderhill assesses for any of those is confirmed with the city, and we put that in front of a board before work is scheduled rather than after a violation is written.
Section 6.8.5 also reaches work that is not tree work. Encroachments, excavations and changes to the natural grade within the drip line of a tree are prohibited unless the effect on the tree is demonstrated to the City before the activity begins. Trenching for irrigation, regrading for drainage and hardscape installation all sit inside that description. The demonstration belongs in the schedule ahead of the work, not in a file afterward.
What to Check With Your Contractor
Section 6.8.5 is written against any person who causes, suffers, permits or allows the prohibited acts. That wording reaches the party who authorizes the work as well as the crew doing it, so an association or a property manager approving a scope carries exposure alongside the contractor. Confirm the permit has been issued and is in hand before a crew mobilizes, and confirm it covers every tree on the proposal.
Ask for caliper on the proposal, measured where Section 6.8 measures it, and ask for the trunk-by-trunk figures on anything multi-stemmed. Ask for species on every line, because the nuisance exemption in Section 6.8 turns on what the tree is. A proposal carrying neither caliper nor species cannot be checked against the fee schedule, and it cannot be checked against the exemption either.
What to Do Next
Before tree work is scheduled in Lauderhill, settle four things. Whether any tree in scope is a historical tree, because that route runs through the Commission. What the caliper is at the point Section 6.8 measures from. What mitigation the city will require. And what the application package has to contain, which we confirm with the city on every filing.
We settle all four before quoting. We inspect the trees, record species, caliper and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file the permit, and handle replacement planting where the city requires it. 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 Lauderhill. See landscaping services in Lauderhill.
The information presented on this page was accurate as of 30 August 2026.
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