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Tree Removal Permits in South Miami

In South Miami the tree permit does not begin at removal. Section 20-4.5.1, Tree protection, provides that no tree may be removed, relocated, trimmed or pruned without a permit and mitigation, and it sets the pruning trigger at more than one-third of the canopy of a tree. A crown reduction booked as routine maintenance can cross that line. 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 20-4.5.1 is written around any tree within the City and any tree on any property, so a commercial site, an association common area, a condominium parcel, a hotel, a school campus or a medical office sits inside it on the general terms. The section reaches the owner, and it reaches an agent or representative acting directly or indirectly. A board or a manager who instructs a crew is covered as squarely as the crew.

Miami-Dade County Section 24-49 is the county layer over the same properties, and our Miami-Dade County tree permit guide sets out what that layer requires. Section 24-49(4)(a) exempts trees in the yard area of an existing single-family residence, provided the tree is not a specimen, is not in a natural forest community and is not in the county right of way. A municipality is entitled to be stricter than the county, and several in Miami-Dade are, so the city settles the position for a house.

What Needs a Permit

A tree permit is required for the removal or relocation of any tree within the City. A permit is also required for pruning or trimming more than one-third of the canopy of a tree, which is the line that catches maintenance work. Removing a tree the code lists as prohibited or exempt still calls for a permit in advance of the removal, and that permit is free. On those species the question is timing rather than cost.

Only the City Commission may approve the removal, relocation or replacement of a heritage or champion tree. That is a Commission decision on a meeting cycle rather than a counter transaction, so a heritage or champion tree in scope changes the schedule of a project as well as its cost, and it is worth establishing that status before a date is promised to a board.

The tree permit also sits ahead of building permits for new construction, additions, carports, pools, decks, fences, driveways and parking lots. A parking lot repaving or a fence replacement on a site with trees runs through the tree permit first. That ordering is worth knowing when a capital project timeline is being set.

The application carries a survey requirement a contractor cannot satisfy on its own. The drawing must be sealed by a Professional Land Surveyor licensed in the State of Florida, drawn to scale, identifying the species and listing the height, spread and diameter of all existing trees. That is every existing tree on the parcel, not only the ones coming out.

What It Costs

Mitigation is the figure that decides the budget here, and it is not a flat charge. Section 20-4.5.1 provides that the City shall collect funds according to the City tree value mitigation chart, and that those funds are deposited in the Tree Trust Fund. The chart values the tree, so the size and species of what is coming out drive the total. We obtain the current chart from the city and price the mitigation before a proposal goes out.

Specimen trees carry a fixed charge on top of that. Replacement trees are required to be planted to mitigate specimen tree removal, and one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) is paid into the City Tree Trust Fund in addition to any required mitigation. As a worked example rather than a published rate, a job taking three specimen trees carries three thousand dollars on that provision alone, before the replacement planting and before the chart mitigation.

Section 20-4.5.1 sets a further fixed contribution to the City Tree Trust Fund on top of that. We give no figure for it, because the provision we read states the amount without the circumstance that triggers it, and a number whose trigger we cannot state is one a board would budget wrongly. We settle it with the city before it reaches a proposal. Application and permit fees are set by the city as well, and we confirm those current amounts with the department rather than quoting a figure from the code.

Two things pull the other way. A permit for the removal of a tree the code lists as prohibited or exempt is issued free of charge, though it still has to be in hand before the work. And the City Commission has discretion to exempt a government agency from the application and permit fees where the removal is solely in areas dedicated to public use, which matters on municipal grounds. The sealed survey is a separate line, paid to a surveyor rather than to the city.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

The prohibition names more than the person holding the saw. No person, agent or representative, directly or indirectly, may cut down, remove, relocate or effectively remove any tree on any property without first obtaining a tree permit. Two phrases carry the weight. Effectively remove sits in that list alongside cut down and remove, so the prohibition reaches beyond a tree that is physically carried off the site. Directly or indirectly puts a board approving a scope of work inside it alongside the crew performing it.

The permit obligation and the mitigation obligation run together in Section 20-4.5.1, so work done without the permit leaves the mitigation still owing on top of whatever the city assesses. Penalties are set by provisions we confirm with the city before putting an exposure figure in front of a board. On a heritage or champion tree the position is sharper again, because approval there rests with the City Commission rather than with staff.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Ask how the crew measures one-third of the canopy before the saw comes out, and have that measurement recorded. The trigger in Section 20-4.5.1 is more than one-third of the canopy of a tree, so a crown reduction scoped by eye is a permit question waiting to happen. Ask to see the tree permit itself before work starts, since the section requires it in advance of the work rather than afterward.

Confirm who is producing the survey. The seal of a Florida licensed Professional Land Surveyor is what the section calls for, so budget a surveyor into the schedule and do it early enough that the application is not held up. Confirm too that a tree the code lists as prohibited or exempt is permitted in advance, because a crew treating that removal as routine creates the same problem as any other unpermitted removal.

What to Do Next

Three things settle a South Miami job before it is scheduled. Whether any tree in scope is a heritage or champion tree, because that answer runs through the City Commission and sets the calendar. What the tree value mitigation chart produces for the trees coming out, which is the real budget rather than the application fee. And whether the planned pruning crosses more than one-third of the canopy, which turns maintenance into permitted work.

We settle all three before quoting. We inspect the trees, document species, size and condition, arrange the sealed survey the application requires, prepare the arborist report where one is called for, file the tree permit, and handle replacement planting where mitigation applies. 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.

The information presented on this page was accurate as of 24 August 2026.

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