Tree Removal Permits in Wilton Manors

Wilton Manors has made a declaration about palms that covers the whole city. Section 13-7 declares the entire area encompassed by the territorial limits of the city to be an area of lethal yellowing disease contamination, declares every palm species determined by expert scientific opinion to be susceptible to that disease to be so susceptible, and then declares infected palms, susceptible palms located in the city, and palms already dead or substantially dead, to be public nuisances. If you manage a property here with palms on it, that sentence is the one to understand first. 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?

Two authorities apply. Broward County enforces Chapter 27 Article XIV in Wilton Manors, so a county Tree Removal License is required, and our Broward County guide sets out what that license costs, which categories stay with the county and what the application involves. The city then operates its own tree removal permit under its land development regulations on top of that.

The lethal yellowing declaration at Section 13-7 reaches property by property type not at all. It is written across the territorial limits of the city, so a condominium parcel, an association common area, a commercial site and a single house are all inside it on identical terms. What differs is how many palms are involved and how quickly a nuisance declaration turns into a work order.

The residential position on ordinary tree removal runs through the county. Broward County Section 27-408(a)(3)(c) carries the exemption written for owner-occupied detached single-family and duplex property. Its conditions, and the tree categories it holds back, are set out in the county guide. Certified municipalities administer their own program and may be stricter than the county, so which rule governs a particular house is settled with Wilton Manors before anyone advises a homeowner.

What Needs a Permit

The county side is settled: a county Tree Removal License is required in Wilton Manors, because the county enforces Article XIV here rather than the city holding a certified ordinance of its own.

On the city permit we will tell you it exists and we will not tell you what triggers it. The provision that sets out when the city permit applies is one we had not verified when this page was written, and guessing at a permit trigger is how a job gets stopped after the crew has mobilized. We establish it with the city on the specific trees in scope, as part of preparing the proposal rather than afterwards.

There is one thing worth knowing before you or your contractor goes looking for that rule, because the city's own code sends you to the wrong place. Section 150-150 tells the reader that tree removal is governed by Section 155-020(B). Section 155-020 is titled Open space performance standards, and the tree rule sits at Section 155-010(B). The cross-reference appears to be stale following the renumbering in Ordinance No. 2021-012. Someone who follows it lands in a section about open space, finds nothing about trees, and can come away believing the city has no rule at all.

What It Costs

The obligation that decides a budget on a palm-heavy property is the nuisance declaration rather than a permit fee. A palm that is dead, substantially dead, infected or of a susceptible species sits inside a citywide declaration that it is a public nuisance, which means removal is a question of when rather than whether, and it can arrive as a compliance matter rather than as planned maintenance. Budgeting palms on a Wilton Manors property is better done on a survey than on a schedule of complaints.

Replacement material is constrained too. Section 150-130 carries a list of approved trees by common and botanical name, and that list governs what may be planted. We obtain the current list from the city before quoting a replanting job, because a specification written outside it is discovered at inspection rather than at design, and by then the stock is bought.

No city tree permit fee and no penalty amount was located in the sections we read. We obtain both from the city before quoting. The county license fee is separate and is set out on the county guide.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

The county exposure is the one we can describe, and the county guide sets it out. Because Broward enforces Article XIV in Wilton Manors directly, a removal without the county license answers to the county rather than to a municipal schedule.

On the city side we found no penalty provision in the sections retrieved, which is a statement about what we read rather than about what the code contains. We confirm the current position with the city before work is scheduled. Given that both the city permit trigger and its enforcement are things we settle directly rather than publish, Wilton Manors is a jurisdiction where the phone call happens before the quote rather than after it.

What to Check With Your Contractor

On palms, ask what the diagnosis rests on. Section 13-7 turns on expert scientific opinion for susceptibility, and on a palm being infected, dead or substantially dead. Those are assessments rather than observations, and the difference between a palm that is declining and one that is substantially dead is the difference between a maintenance visit and a nuisance removal. Our ISA Certified Arborist (NY-6948A) makes that call and documents it.

On replanting, ask whether the proposed species are on the Section 150-130 list by botanical name rather than by common name. Common names cover several species and the list is written in both, so a substitution that reads correctly on a proposal can fail on the botanical name at inspection.

And ask which permits a contractor is actually pulling. In a city where the county enforces directly and the city runs its own permit on top, a proposal that mentions only one of them is a proposal that has not been through the full sequence.

What to Do Next

Three things settle a Wilton Manors job before it is priced. What condition the palms are in, assessed rather than assumed, since the citywide declaration turns dead and substantially dead palms into public nuisances. What the city permit requires for the trees in scope, which we establish with the city directly. And what the approved replanting list allows, before stock is specified.

We settle those before quoting. We inspect the trees and palms, document species and condition, confirm the city requirement directly with Wilton Manors, file the county license, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, and specify replanting against the city's approved list. 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 Wilton Manors. See landscaping services in Wilton Manors.

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

Related Services

• Tree Care (Overview)
• Tree Trimming & Pruning
• Root Pruning
• Palm Tree Care
• Palm Tree Strapping
• Tree Removal
• Invasive Tree Species Removal
• Emergency Tree Services
• Tree Health & Risk Assessments
• Tree Inventory & Management Plans