Tree Removal Permits in Palm Beach Gardens

In Palm Beach Gardens the pruning standards are written for the properties a board or a manager runs. The article states that they shall apply only to all nonresidential uses and to common areas in all planned developments and within developments of regional impact. Inside that scope, crown reduction of a shade tree is prohibited until the canopy has reached at least 15 feet in diameter. 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 78-328 sets the reach of the pruning standards in terms. They apply to all nonresidential uses, and to common areas in all planned developments and within developments of regional impact. A commercial site, an industrial yard, a medical or senior living campus, a hotel and a school are nonresidential uses. An association or condominium common area inside a planned development is named directly. The two Palm Beach County articles we read do not create a general permit to remove an ordinary tree, so on a removal in Palm Beach Gardens the city rule is the one that governs. A separate county obligation does reach inside city limits: the countywide invasive non-native vegetation ordinance applies in incorporated areas except where a municipal ordinance conflicts, and our Palm Beach County guide sets out what it requires.

The residential position is worth knowing, because a board member may be asked about it. For a detached single-family residence, Florida Statutes Section 163.045 is available on documentation from an ISA Certified Arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect. How the city applies it on a given lot is a question for the growth management department rather than an assumption to work from.

What Needs a Permit

Section 78-305 sets out a development application, and its reach is broader than removal. Installing new landscaping, land clearing, grubbing and removing trees each require approval from the city council or an authorized board. So does clearing or removal to expand a permitted use. So does a major change to landscaping or to preserve areas on a previously approved site plan, where plant quantity or design is affected. A change forced by FDOT, a utility or another agency is approved before work starts.

That is the route the tree standards establish for a site without existing plan approval. Section 78-305 makes a pre-application field inspection by the city forester available, and Section 78-158 allows a written waiver request naming the specific section and a justification. A change to a preserve driven by a federal or state environmental permit still needs city approval before land alteration or construction starts. Where a property already carries plan approval, the growth management department settles the current permit path. Settle it before a scope is priced.

Pruning is governed separately, and one limit stops work outright. Crown reduction of shade trees is prohibited until the tree canopy has reached at least 15 feet in diameter. Four things sit outside that prohibition. Removing limbs or foliage presenting a hazard, or in conflict with a crime prevention program. Removing dead or diseased limbs. Work to reinforce strength of form, and work in association with tree or palm relocation. A request to cut back a young shade tree falls inside the prohibition unless one of the four applies.

Once a canopy has reached 15 feet in diameter, crown reduction is permitted as incidental. It requires correct pruning standards, and a constraint such as a power line or a structure. The article also states that unless otherwise approved by the city, trees shall be allowed to grow to a shape and size typical of their species throughout their life cycle. Hatracking is prohibited, and the code defines it to include flat-cutting the top or sides of a tree, severing the leader or leaders, and making internodal cuts.

What It Costs

The number that decides a budget in Palm Beach Gardens is not the application fee. On a site carrying native uplands it is the preserve set-aside at Section 78-250, which reserves a share of the site. The application fee is a number the growth management department holds rather than one the tree standards publish. We confirm it with the department before it goes into a quote.

One published figure in the city code is easy to mistake for a permit fee. Section 66-69 is the city business tax schedule, and it sets lawn service, including lawn mowing, tree trimming or cutting and planting of trees or shrubs, at $100.00 per annum. That is a local business tax payable by the contractor for operating in the city. It is not the cost of a tree permit and should not go into a budget as one.

The obligation that moves money on a site with native uplands is the preserve requirement at Section 78-250. A minimum of 25 percent of the total upland native plant communities has to be set aside as a preserve on site. The city council may approve mitigation instead, as set out in that division. The council designates which portion, on a recommendation from the growth management department, and a designation decision may be appealed in writing to the council under Section 78-245.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Section 78-302 counts violations by area rather than by tree. Each square yard containing a tree, shrubbery or groundcover that is destroyed, removed, cleared or grubbed without a permit is a separate violation. The count therefore rises with the size of the area cleared, and it captures groundcover and shrubbery, not trees alone.

Two further counts sit alongside it. Each tree, shrub or groundcover that is not properly installed, protected or maintained as required by the division or by a development order is a separate violation. So is each tree that is abused or improperly pruned or hatracked, so pruning work is inside the same count. The city may also pursue civil action in addition to any other remedy.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Section 78-330 specifies the work, not only the paperwork. Before land clearing or construction, protective barriers go up around the drip line of all trees, clusters of trees or preserve areas to be protected. They are constructed of metal, wood or other durable material, and the barricades have to be acceptable to the city forester. Storage of material, equipment, debris or fill inside the barrier is not permitted. Attachments and wires other than those of a protective nature may not be fixed to a protected tree.

The same section names the substances. Cleaning or storage of equipment, and disposal of liquid or solid wastes including paint, oil solvents, asphalt, concrete, mortar and similar toxic materials, are not permitted inside the protective barrier. For protection technique the city applies the current edition of the Tree Protection Manual for Builders and Developers. It is published by the State Division of Forestry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Section 78-228 adds a planting standard: root barriers are required for trees planted within 15 feet of any road right-of-way, sidewalk or utility.

What to Do Next

Settle four things before tree work is scheduled in Palm Beach Gardens. Whether the property falls inside the pruning article, which reaches nonresidential uses and common areas in planned developments and developments of regional impact. Whether the canopy of each shade tree in scope has reached 15 feet in diameter, since that decides whether crown reduction is available at all. Whether the site already carries site plan or landscape plan approval. And what the growth management department gives as the current permit path and fee.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees and record species, size and condition. We prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, and file through the route the department confirms. We install protection barriers to the standard Section 78-330 sets, and handle planting where the approval attaches it. TWQ Landscaping handles tree permitting for the properties we maintain across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade: community associations and condominiums, cooperative and master associations, commercial and industrial sites, medical and senior living campuses, schools, religious campuses, hotels, multifamily rental, self-storage, dealerships, retail outparcels, marinas, mobile home and RV parks, municipal grounds and mixed-use. Call (954) 583-4752 or request a proposal.

TWQ Landscaping maintains commercial and community association property in Palm Beach Gardens. See landscaping services in Palm Beach Gardens.

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

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• Tree Care (Overview)
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