Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Southwest Ranches?

Section 10-24 of the Town of Southwest Ranches code makes it unlawful for any person to cause, suffer, permit or allow the removal of any tree without first obtaining a tree removal permit from the town. Section 10-27 states the same requirement and extends it to relocating a tree. The trigger the sections state is the tree itself. Removing a historical tree requires approval from both the county and the town.

What else does the Southwest Ranches tree ordinance prohibit?

Section 10-24 prohibits six acts alongside removal without a permit. Removing a historical tree without approval from the county and the town. Tree abuse. Any encroachment, excavation or change of the natural grade within the drip line of a tree, unless it is demonstrated to the town beforehand that the activity will not negatively impact any tree. Land clearing or the operation of heavy equipment in the vicinity of a tree without a protective barrier around the drip line. Storage or use of materials or equipment within the drip line. And land clearing, including understory, in an area designated as a natural forest community without a tree removal permit.

What does a Southwest Ranches tree permit cost?

The permit application fee is established by the town rather than fixed in the code text, and it is nonrefundable and nontransferable, so the current amount is confirmed with the town before a job is quoted. The figure that sizes a budget is the replacement planting. Section 10-27 grades replacement stock into four categories and requires at least fifty percent of the replacement trees to come from Category 1 or Category 2. Category 1 is a minimum of twelve feet in height and two inches DBH at time of planting, and Category 2 a minimum of eight feet in height.

What is the penalty for removing a tree without a permit in Southwest Ranches?

Section 10-56 provides that failure to comply with the requirements of the article constitutes a violation of a Town of Southwest Ranches ordinance and may be punishable pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 162.21, the state civil citation provision. The current town citation schedule is confirmed before a figure is quoted. Tree abuse carries a separate remedy under Section 10-28: pruning and other remedial action as determined by the town, and replacement trees under Section 10-27(i) where the natural habit of growth of the abused tree is destroyed.

Tree Removal Permits in Southwest Ranches

Southwest Ranches states its permit trigger as the tree itself. Section 10-24 makes it unlawful for any person to cause, suffer, permit or allow the removal of any tree without first obtaining a tree removal permit from the town. Six further acts are prohibited in the same section, and three of them govern conduct around a tree that is staying. 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 10-24 binds any person and reaches the removal of any tree. A commercial site, an association common area, a condominium parcel or an institutional campus sits inside it. The town holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, so the application goes to the town. That certification is not permanent, so the position is worth confirming before a job is planned. A historical tree needs two consents rather than one. Its removal requires approval from both the county and the town.

The exemptions in the article are conditional. They apply provided that no nuisance or any condition which adversely affects the environment or public health is created. A second condition is that the activity does not violate the Broward County Code, or federal, state, or local government regulations. Removal of nuisance trees is among the exempted activities. Tree abuse carries separate exemptions. Topiary pruning is exempt on owner-occupied property developed for detached single-family usage. It is also exempt where an approved landscape plan identifies trees not installed to meet minimum landscape requirements as appropriate for topiary pruning.

What Needs a Permit

Section 10-27 states the requirement directly. Unless otherwise exempted by the article, a person shall obtain a tree removal permit prior to relocating or removing a tree. Relocating a tree is permitted work in its own right. The definitions in Section 10-23 close another route: pruning which amounts to tree abuse and results in the death of the tree is treated as removal. A trim that kills a tree is measured as a removal.

The other prohibitions in Section 10-24 reach work that has nothing to do with felling. Any encroachment, excavation or change of the natural grade within the drip line of a tree is prohibited. The exception runs on a demonstration to the town, before the activity starts, that it will not negatively impact any tree. Storage or use of materials or equipment within the drip line is prohibited, as are attachments other than those of a protective and nondamaging nature. Land clearing in an area designated as a natural forest community, including understory, requires a tree removal permit.

Two measurement rules sit in Section 10-23. The DBH of a tree with multiple trunks is the sum of the individual trunk diameters at breast height. A tree with less than four and one-half feet of clear trunk is measured as the diameter of its largest vertical branch or leader at breast height. Both rules change what a tree records on an inventory.

The application goes in on the town approved form, submitted by the property owner or an authorized agent. It must be accompanied by the required fee. Documents and drawings have to describe the proposed activities in sufficient detail and clearly identify all potential impacts to the environment and public health. The required data includes a map of the site, the legal description, and drawings prepared by a person qualified to do so under the laws of the state. Issuance, denial and the permit term defer to the Broward County Code, chapter 27, article 1.

What It Costs

The number that sizes a budget here is the replacement planting rather than the permit fee. Section 10-27 requires any person who removes a tree, or negatively impacts a natural forest community, in violation of the article to offset the environmental impacts through mitigation. The fee itself is set by the town rather than fixed in the code text. It is nonrefundable and nontransferable, so a withdrawn application does not recover it. We confirm the current amount with the department before quoting.

Replacement stock is graded into four categories, and the applicant chooses among them within one limit. At least fifty percent of the replacement trees must come from Category 1 or Category 2. Category 1 is a minimum of twelve feet in height and two inches DBH at time of planting. Category 2 is a minimum of eight feet in height at planting, and Category 3 a minimum of six feet. Category 4 covers replacement palms, at a minimum of six feet of clear trunk or greywood.

Two adjustments run in opposite directions. Where the minimum tree size is commercially unavailable, smaller trees may be substituted with the approval of the town. Additional credit may be given for the installation of larger trees, at the town's discretion. Replacement also attaches to tree abuse. Where the natural habit of growth of an abused tree is destroyed, replacement trees are planted under Section 10-27(i), the same section that sets the categories.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Section 10-56 states the consequence in one line. Failure to comply with the requirements of the article constitutes a violation of a Town of Southwest Ranches ordinance, and may be punishable pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 162.21. That is the state civil citation route rather than a local fine schedule, so the amount is set through the state provision. We confirm the town's current citation schedule with the department before quoting a figure.

Tree abuse carries a remedy of its own under Section 10-28, and it is work rather than money. A person who abuses a tree in violation of the article shall undertake pruning and other remedial action as determined by the town. That is not limited to the removal of severely abused trees to protect public safety and property. Corrective pruning to improve the health and form of affected trees sits alongside it. Where the town directs the removal of a severely abused tree, its written direction stands in place of a tree removal permit.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Two on-site limits in Section 10-27 bind the crew as much as the owner. A person conducting tree removal activities shall only remove a tree from a site as approved for removal in the town tree removal permit. The section carries a second limit addressing damage to any other tree on the site during tree removal activity. Section 10-24 then requires a protective barrier around the drip line during land clearing and heavy equipment work. It must be conspicuous enough and high enough to be seen easily by operators of trucks and other equipment.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Southwest Ranches. What the town currently charges for the application, since the fee is set by the town and is nonrefundable once paid. Whether any tree in scope is a historical tree, because that needs county approval as well as town approval. And what the replacement obligation will be, at the category mix the town will accept.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees and record species, condition and DBH under the town's own measurement rules, including the multiple trunk sum. We prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file the 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.

TWQ Landscaping maintains commercial and community association property in Southwest Ranches. See landscaping services in Southwest Ranches.

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

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