Tree Removal Permits in West Park

In West Park the permit attaches to where a tree stands as well as to what it is. Section 14-79 defines protected vegetation to include any trees in all common areas in any residential development. An association common area is therefore written into the definition itself. Vegetation in parking and vehicular use areas is named there too. 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?

West Park holds a certified tree ordinance and enforces it in lieu of county enforcement, so the city code is what governs a tree here. Section 14-79 defines protected vegetation by category and by location. The categories it names include ordinary features of a managed site. A commercial property, an association common area, a condominium parcel, a hotel or an institutional campus sits inside the section on those terms.

Section 14-78 settles who files. An owner of fee simple title shall apply for a tree removal or relocation permit. The agent of the owner, the lessee, an optionee, a contract purchaser or the holder of an easement applies after submitting certified approval of the fee simple owner. An easement holder may obtain a permit only when the removal is consistent with the use granted by the easement. On a managed property that owner approval comes first.

The single-family position is worth knowing, because a board member may be asked about it. Section 42-575 is titled Single-family and two-family dwellings landscape requirements. It provides that actual landscape drawings are not required for single-family and duplex dwellings. What the section relieves is the drawing. Tree removal on those properties is governed by the sections set out here.

What Needs a Permit

Section 14-79 requires a permit from the city prior to the removal of any protected vegetation, or any land clearing activity. The duty sits with a property owner or his designated agent, subject to the conditions of the code. Land clearing activity is the second trigger, and it reaches site work that is not organized around a particular tree.

The list in Section 14-79 runs to street trees in public or private rights of way, perimeter vegetation, and vegetation in parking and vehicular use areas. It also covers historical trees, any tree in a city area of particular concern, and any specimen tree. It covers any trees in all common areas in any residential development, and any public or private parks. The reach is therefore inside a site as well as at its public edge.

What It Costs

Replacement is the number that decides a budget here, and it is measured in canopy. Section 14-110 provides that a removed tree shall be replaced with its equivalent canopy coverage, as defined by the replacement table in that section. Under no circumstance shall any tree be replaced with less than a 300 replacement canopy area credit. The section also carries a specification for palms. Large palms shall have seven feet of gray wood and small palms two feet of gray wood, at three to one.

Section 14-78 is titled to cover fees and inspections as well as applications, and the amount is set by the city. We confirm it with the city before quoting rather than publish a figure we cannot cite. Registration for a tree service provider carries its own fee, set by resolution of the city commission under Section 14-52. Section 14-115 puts tree removal fees and penalty monies into the West Park Tree Trust Fund, used solely for tree replacement or related items on public property.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Section 14-51 counts violations by the tree. The removal, relocation, abuse or destruction of each tree for which a tree permit is required, in violation of the article, constitutes a separate offense. Drip line encroachment is named in that same sentence, so damage around a tree is counted the way removal is counted. A crew working along a row of trees in one afternoon therefore produces a count rather than a single charge.

Penalty money runs into the same trust fund as the fees. A second consequence lands on the contractor. Under Section 14-52 the city may revoke or deny renewal of a provider's registration. The grounds are failing to conform to the tree trimming standards the article prescribes, or being found to have committed tree abuse. A contractor's ability to work in the city is therefore attached to how the work is done.

What to Check With Your Contractor

West Park registers the trade. Section 14-52 requires all tree service providers and arborists performing work within the limits of the city to be registered with the city. Registration runs for one year from the date of issuance. A copy of the business tax receipt and valid insurance certificates are required to obtain it. Registered providers keep a copy on site for inspection while working in the city, so it is a document to ask for before a crew arrives.

The same section sets what the registration must show. Evidence shall be noted on it of proper training from the International Society of Arboriculture, together with a Class A tree trimmer license from the county. That applies to companies and individuals that are registered arborists. A Class B tree trimmer license from the county is required for registration from companies or individuals other than certified arborists. The registration records which of the two county licenses a provider holds.

Tree protection barriers are a condition of permit approval rather than a matter of practice. Under Section 14-116, trees to be preserved shall have barriers built around each tree or group of trees and understory before any clearing of improved, vacant or unimproved land. The barriers must include the entire area inside the outer edge or drip line. They must be conspicuous and high enough to be seen easily by operators of trucks and other equipment. They are built of sturdy orange plastic barricading with supports every five feet, and the city inspects them before clearing.

Section 14-118 sets planting distances near overhead electric facilities. No tree or vegetation shall be planted where at mature height it may be present within 20 feet of one. Any tree or vegetation must be planted at least the horizontal distance of its mature height from an overhead electric facility. Palm trees must be planted at the greater of 20 feet or the mature maximum frond length plus ten feet.

The same section gives electric utilities a right of entry to maintain, trim and remove vegetation affecting service. That matters when a utility notice arrives about a tree on your property. Our crews work no closer than ten feet to energized lines. Anything inside that distance is coordinated with the utility rather than carried out by us, and we handle the planting and replacement work around those facilities.

What to Do Next

Three things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in West Park. Whether anything in scope falls inside the Section 14-79 list, common areas and parking area vegetation included. What the equivalent canopy coverage table will require as replacement. And whether the person filing holds certified approval of the fee simple owner, since Section 14-78 puts the application with the owner first.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees, record species, size and condition, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file with the city, and handle replacement planting where the canopy calculation applies. Our ISA Certified Arborist (NY-6948A) produces that report. 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 West Park. See landscaping services in West Park.

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

Related Services

• Tree Care (Overview)
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