Tree Removal Permits in Plantation
In Plantation the permit threshold on a commercial or planned residential property is two inches DBH. A two inch trunk is a sapling, so on those properties the permit reaches effectively every tree, and palms carry a separate trigger on top of that. 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?
Plantation holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, so the city code is the document that governs a tree here. That certification is not permanent. Section 27-262 sets the threshold by property type, and it names three categories: commercial properties, planned residential properties and single-family residences. A commercial site or a hotel sits in the first. Where an association common area, a condominium parcel or an institutional campus sits is worth settling with the city rather than assuming, because the section does not define planned residential and the answer moves the trigger by a factor of nine.
On a commercial or planned residential property the threshold is two inches DBH. On a single-family residence it is eighteen inches DBH. That is a nine-fold difference in trunk diameter for the same act on the same street. Section 27-262 is titled Tree Removal, All properties, so the property type changes the size at which the permit is triggered rather than whether the article reaches you at all.
What Needs a Permit
Section 27-262(b) requires a tree removal or relocation permit, a TRP, before any person or corporation cuts down, destroys, removes, relocates or destructively damages a tree, or causes any tree to be encroached upon within its dripline. Encroachment inside the dripline sits on that list beside cutting the tree down, so work that never touches the trunk can still be work that needs the permit.
Palms carry their own trigger rather than a DBH measurement. A palm with graywood of eight feet or greater requires a TRP, and all other palms require one at an overall height of sixteen feet. The same section requires that tree stumps be completely removed, so the stump sits inside the permitted job rather than outside it.
The permit requirement reaches past removal. Tree and palm permits, including tree trimming, relocation and removal permits, are required for all landscaping done in the City of Plantation. A planned residential development has to obtain two of them: a landscape permit for the individual lots, and a separate tree permit for the common areas including the street trees. The common area permit is the one that carries the street trees.
A hazardous tree can come down before the TRP is issued, on one condition. Where a tree is determined to be in a hazardous or dangerous condition endangering public health, welfare or safety, and requires immediate removal without delay, the Public Works Department may give written authorization by email. The tree may then be removed before the TRP is obtained. The authorization is written, it comes from Public Works, and it comes first.
What It Costs
The application fee is not the number that decides a Plantation budget. Replacement planting is.
Section 27-264 establishes a Tree Trust Fund, and Section 27-255 sets the replacement cost schedule that a mitigation obligation is priced from. Neither amount is printed in the section we read, so we obtain the current figures from the city rather than quote a number we cannot source. On a property with mature canopy that schedule, not the application, is the line worth budgeting for.
What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit
Section 27-267 sets the fine at $500.00 for each violation, plus the costs associated with investigation and prosecution, together with the cost of the replacement trees or palms established in Section 27-255. The counting is what moves the total. Each tree or palm removed, relocated or destroyed in violation of the code is a separate offense, dripline encroachment included, and each tree to be protected may be the subject of individual enforcement.
Construction damage is priced by appraisal on top of that. A tree damaged by construction has to be repaired by a professional arborist in a manner acceptable to the City. Its value before and after the damage is determined by the methodology in the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers Guide for Plant Appraisal, current edition. A fine equal to the difference in valuation is assessed in addition to the standard violation fine. The City must be notified immediately after the damage.
Liability lands on the property owner. Where a tree or palm has been cut down, destroyed, removed, relocated or destructively damaged, the owner of the property is held strictly liable for a violation of the code. The code names four ways to rebut that: an act of God, an act of war, development activity carried out under an approved tree permit, or damage by vandals or trespassers. That last one holds where the owner has filed a police report for the incident and had taken reasonable security measures.
The City reserves the right to issue an order to cease and desist any work being performed in violation of the article or of the conditions on a permit already issued. A separate clock runs after a storm. Failure to remove or properly prune a tree damaged by a natural disaster within thirty days is itself a violation, so hurricane cleanup on a large property answers to a deadline as well as to a permit.
What to Check With Your Contractor
Plantation requires a certified arborist on the paperwork and on the ground. A certified arborist shall provide a signed consent with the tree trimming application, and must be on site during tree pruning or maintenance. Pruning performed without conformance to ANSI A-300 and Z-133 standards is subject to enforcement by the City, and live palm fronds initiating above the horizontal plane, as those standards define it, shall not be removed.
Two further limits belong in a scope of work. Lifting may be performed only to eliminate a hazard to pedestrians or to protect trees from vehicular damage, and under no circumstances may the middle one-third of a tree's overall height contain less than 50 percent of the foliage. Where a tree maintenance provider does not meet the standards set out in the article, the City may request that Broward County revoke its local business tax receipt.
What to Do Next
Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Plantation. Which category the property falls in, because that sets the trigger at two inches or at eighteen. Whether any palm on the site has reached eight feet of graywood or sixteen feet of overall height. And whether anything in the scope encroaches inside a dripline, since Section 27-262(b) treats that alongside removal.
We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees, record species, diameter and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, and file the tree permit, including the separate common area permit where a planned residential development needs both. Our ISA Certified Arborist (NY-6948A) signs the consent that goes with a trimming application and is on site during the pruning, which is what Section 27-261 asks for.
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 Plantation. See landscaping services in Plantation.
The information presented on this page was accurate as of 23 August 2026.
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