Tree Removal Permits in Tamarac

In Tamarac the approval is a license rather than a permit, and Section 10-4.4(D) reaches further than taking a tree down. Alongside removal and tree abuse, it covers encroachments, excavations and a change of the natural grade within the drip line of a tree. Those are allowed where it is demonstrated to the Department beforehand that the tree will not be negatively impacted. Trenching, paving and regrading therefore sit inside the ordinance on a site that is not losing a single tree. 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 10-4.4(D)(2) is written against any tree. An association common area, a condominium parcel, a commercial site, a medical or senior living campus, a school or an industrial property sits inside it on the general terms. Tamarac holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, which makes the city the authority you apply to. Certification is not permanent, and our Broward County guide covers the county layer.

Tamarac also recognizes an Urban Wilderness Inventory Area, defined by reference to Section 25½-27 of the Broward County Code, and that designation carries protection additional to the ordinance's general terms. Whether any part of a property sits inside one is worth settling with the city before a scope of work is priced.

The residential position runs partly through the county. Broward County Section 27-408(a)(3)(c) exempts removal of any tree on owner-occupied residential property of one acre or less developed for detached single-family or duplex use. It carves previously preserved or replaced trees, and historical or specimen trees, back out of that exemption. Certified municipalities administer their own program, so which rule governs a particular house is settled with the city. Tamarac separately adopts the state residential exemption at Fla. Stat. Section 163.045 by reference, and that adoption is expressly limited so mangrove protection delegated under state law stays in force.

What Needs a Permit

Section 10-4.4(D) sets out four prohibitions, and they do not all lead to the same desk. Removing a Historical tree requires approval from the City Commission before the removal is conducted. Removing any other tree requires a tree removal license from the Department. Tree abuse, as the section defines it, is prohibited in its own right. And the fourth covers encroachments, excavations and change of the natural grade within a drip line. Identifying a Historical tree in scope therefore belongs at the front of a schedule.

Tree abuse carries a second consequence. Pruning which amounts to tree abuse as the section defines it, and which results in the death of the tree, falls within removal. A trim severe enough to kill the tree is therefore handled as a removal, and a removal without a license is what subsection (D)(2) prohibits. That is the route by which a maintenance visit turns into an enforcement matter.

Two measurement rules decide what number goes on an application. The DBH of trees with multiple trunks is the sum of the individual trunk diameters at breast height, so a clumping specimen is recorded at the total of its stems. Trees with less than four and one-half feet of clear trunk are measured as the diameter of the largest vertical branch or leader at breast height.

Section 10-4.4 exempts nuisance trees, as it defines them, from the prohibitions in subsection (D). That exemption is conditional. It holds provided that no condition is created which poses an imminent threat to public safety or property. The state of the site once the work is finished therefore sits inside the test. Which trees meet the section's definition of a nuisance tree is settled with the city.

The ordinance defines a tree survey as a document signed and sealed by a Florida Registered Land Surveyor. Where the application calls for one, that is a licensed professional and a separate engagement from the tree work. It belongs in the schedule and the budget at the start. We confirm the current application package with the city, and we assemble and file it.

What It Costs

Two amounts decide a Tamarac budget: the fee attaching to the tree removal license, and the penalty for work done without one. Both are set by the city. We confirm each with the Department before quoting. We publish no figure for either, because a number carried in from anywhere else would be a guess dressed as a quote. For a board approving a scope of work, that confirmation is the first step rather than the last.

There is one Tamarac figure worth naming here, and it is easy to misread. Section 12-39, Amount of Fee, sets the landscape, nursery and garden supply classification, number 55, at $200. That is a business tax on operating in the city, paid by a contractor as a condition of doing business. It is not a charge for the tree removal license, and it should not go on a board's budget as the cost of taking a tree down. It is named here so it is not mistaken for one.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Removing a tree without a tree removal license is prohibited by Section 10-4.4(D)(2), and removing a Historical tree without City Commission approval is prohibited by Section 10-4.4(D)(1). Because pruning which amounts to tree abuse and results in the death of the tree falls within removal, a pruning specification can produce the same exposure as an unpermitted removal. We confirm the penalty amount with the city before quoting, and it is worth knowing before the work starts.

Subsection (D)(4) reaches work that is not tree work at all. Encroachments, excavations and a change of the natural grade within the drip line of a tree are inside it. The route through is a demonstration to the Department, before the activity begins, that the tree will not be negatively impacted. Irrigation trenching, hardscape, drainage and utility work all sit in that description. The demonstration has to come before the machine arrives on site.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Three things are worth confirming with whoever holds the contract. That the pruning specification will not amount to tree abuse under Section 10-4.4, since abuse that results in the death of the tree is treated as removal. That any excavation or grade change planned within a drip line has been demonstrated to the Department first. That reaches the irrigation and paving trades, not the tree crew alone. And that the contractor's Tamarac business tax position is settled, since Section 12-39 sets an amount of $200 against the landscape, nursery and garden supply classification.

What to Do Next

Before tree work is scheduled in Tamarac, four things are worth settling. Whether any tree in scope is a Historical tree, because that route runs through the City Commission rather than the Department. Whether the parcel touches an Urban Wilderness Inventory Area. What the license fee and the penalty amount currently are. And what the DBH figures come to once the multi-trunk rule has been applied to every stem.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees and record species, size and condition using the section's own measurement rules. We prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, and coordinate the sealed survey where one is needed. We file the license application and hold the work to a pruning specification that stays clear of tree abuse. 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 Tamarac. See landscaping services in Tamarac.

The information presented on this page was accurate as of 30 August 2026.

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