Tree Removal Permits in North Lauderdale

North Lauderdale takes a tree removal in two steps. Section 102-36, Removal of existing plant material, requires the acknowledgement and approval of the community development department before existing plant material is destroyed or removed. The same section then defers the permit itself to Broward County. Section 102-36 is written against existing plant material rather than against a tree of a stated size, so plant material is the term a scope of work answers to. 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 102-36 is written about existing plant material on a site rather than about a category of owner. On those terms an association common area, a condominium parcel, a commercial site, an industrial property, a medical or senior living campus, a school or a hotel campus is addressed by it. What the section turns on is the act. Destroying or removing existing plant material is what brings the community development department into the job.

Broward County enforces Article XIV in North Lauderdale, and the instrument required for a removal here is a county Tree Removal License. Our Broward County guide covers that county layer. The city step under Section 102-36 sits alongside the county license rather than in place of it, which is what the section's own words settle.

Section 102-37, Plan approval, carries a waiver in the RS-5 districts and any duplex. Its reach is one requirement, that a landscape plan be prepared by a registered landscape architect. The plan requirement itself, and the tree removal permit, are each settled on their own terms rather than by that waiver. It is worth holding the scope of the waiver precisely, because it is a point a board member gets asked about.

What Needs a Permit

Section 102-36 requires the acknowledgement and approval of the community development department before existing plant material is destroyed or removed. Destroyed sits beside removed in that sentence, so work that kills plant material in place answers to the same approval as work that takes it out. The approval named there is the city's own, and it is separate from the county license the section goes on to address.

The section states its carve-outs in the same sentence as the rule. They cover plant material that exists in the buildable area of a proposed building site. They cover plant material that creates an immediate danger to the public safety through disease, damage, or the like. And they cover plant material that is replaced with other plant material meeting the requirements of the article. A separate carve-out covers exotic species, and the section names Australian Pine, Melaleuca and Florida Holly, also known as Brazilian Pepper, as examples of them.

The second step is stated in the section itself. The city defers the right of review and approval to the county in matters of tree removal and the issuance of tree removal permits. Copies of the permits the county issues are then provided to the community development director for acknowledgement prior to the issuance of any building permits. That fixes the order: the county license first, the city acknowledgement after it, and the building permit behind both.

Section 102-36(a) attaches a survey to one route in particular. Where plant material is used as the basis for requesting a landscaping adjustment, a survey is provided specifying the species, approximate height and caliper, as well as the location and condition of that material. Keeping trees on a site to support the adjustment therefore carries a survey requirement of its own, and the survey has to describe condition as well as size.

What It Costs

Price the replacement obligation before the application. A removal may proceed on the footing that the plant material is replaced with other plant material meeting the requirements of the article. The replacement stock and its installation are the line that moves the total. On a property with mature canopy or a long landscape buffer, that is the figure to settle first, because it is set by what the article requires rather than by a form.

The permit itself is the county's, since Section 102-36 defers the issuance of tree removal permits to the county. The amount charged for it is therefore a county figure, and we confirm it before quoting. Any amount the city charges on its own acknowledgement and approval is one we settle with the Community Development Department first. Section 102-36(a) adds a survey where plant material supports a landscaping adjustment, and that survey is a professional cost in its own right. Every number we publish traces to the section it comes from.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

The consequence Section 102-36 states in terms is a hold on construction. Copies of the tree removal permits issued by the county are provided to the community development director for acknowledgement prior to the issuance of any building permits. A job that clears plant material ahead of that record stalls at the building permit counter until the county paperwork reaches the director. On a construction schedule that is the real exposure, and it is a sequencing problem before it is a money problem.

What the city charges for a removal, and the enforcement route that follows one carried out ahead of the department's approval, are settled with the Community Development Department. We confirm both before work is scheduled. What Section 102-36 does settle is the order. The department's acknowledgement and approval come before existing plant material is destroyed or removed, and the county license comes before the city acknowledgement on a construction job.

What to Check With Your Contractor

The first thing to confirm is which of the two approvals a proposal actually includes. A scope that names a permit may mean the county Tree Removal License, the city acknowledgement and approval under Section 102-36, or both. On a job tied to construction the sequence between them is fixed. Ask for both to be named separately on the proposal, with the county license identified as the instrument and the city step identified as the department approval.

The second is identification. Section 102-36 carries a carve-out for exotic species and names Australian Pine, Melaleuca and Florida Holly, also known as Brazilian Pepper, as examples. Which stems on a site fall inside that carve-out is a botanical question before it is a permitting one, and it decides which step the job needs. Where plant material is kept to support a landscaping adjustment, the survey under Section 102-36(a) has to carry species, approximate height and caliper, plus location and condition.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in North Lauderdale. Whether the county Tree Removal License is in hand, since the city defers the permit itself to the county. Whether the community development department has given its acknowledgement and approval for the plant material coming out. And whether the job is tied to a building permit, because copies of the county permits reach the community development director before that permit issues.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the plant material and record species, approximate height, caliper, location and condition to the standard Section 102-36(a) sets. We prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file the county license, and deliver copies to the community development director so the building permit can proceed. 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 North Lauderdale. See landscaping services in North Lauderdale.

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

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