Tampa Tree Protection Rules — Tampa, Florida

Most sizeable trees inside Tampa city limits fall under the city's tree code. The City of Tampa Construction Services Division states that trees are protected by local laws under section 27-284 of the city code, part of the Chapter 27 natural resources rules covering trees, landscaping, wetlands and upland habitat. Its examples of protected trees include oaks, pines and elms greater than 5 inches in diameter measured 4.5 feet above the ground, the point foresters call diameter at breast height, or DBH.

The threshold for removal is low. According to the City's tree resources page, all removals of trees 5 inches in DBH or above require a permit for removal in Tampa, with invasive species excluded. The City keeps a separate list of trees that do not require a permit to remove, and points to the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's 2017 list of invasive plant species. Tampa's code also forbids anyone to cut down, remove, relocate, damage, destroy or in any manner abuse any protected tree until the work is authorized by a permit from the Development and Growth Management Department.

Tampa sets a higher bar for its largest trees. The City defines grand trees as those 32 inches or greater in DBH and states that they require special circumstances for removal: if the tree is not in hazardous condition, removal may require a Variance Review Board, City Council or other public process decision. Before a grand tree comes down, the applicant must also go through public notice.

City Council keeps watch on how often those decisions go the other way. Chapter 27-284 requires the Natural Resources Coordinator to prepare a Tree Removal Zone report to City Council on the impact of removals on Tampa's grand trees. Under Section 27-284.2.5(h), the report lists applications acted on by the Variance Review Board and the coordinator by month, the number of grand trees granted and denied a permit, and each removed tree's size, species and location. The City has posted a December 2020 TRZ report.

The rules have deep roots. ABC Action News reported that former Tampa City Council member Joe Chillura drafted the city's original 1972 ordinance, which required landowners to obtain permits before taking down or trimming live oaks, and that many Tampa neighborhoods are lined by grand live oaks. The station covered a later City review of the grand oak rules that included a public workshop at Old City Hall.

The answer depends on the size of the tree and the work. On private property in Tampa, pruning a tree 23 inches or under in DBH requires no permit, while pruning a tree 24 inches or greater in DBH requires one. Removal of any non-invasive tree of 5 inches DBH or more requires a permit, applied for online through the City's Accela system. Every pruning or removal permit is reviewed by a Forester from Natural Resources before release, or by a City of Tampa Self-Certified Private Arborist whose report Natural Resources reviews.

Removals carry a replacement cost. All tree removals are subject to mitigation, or replacement tree plantings, depending on the size and health of the tree, and the number of other trees kept on the lot. Natural Resources sets the mitigation value during review, and if there is no room to replant on site, the owner can pay into the Tampa tree fund.

Building projects follow a separate track. For an addition, pool, accessory structure or new house, no separate Tree Removal Permit is needed; the removal is evaluated under the building permit by marking the tree on the site plan, and added removals during construction require a Building Plan Revision. Trees on public land are handled differently again: pruning in the city right-of-way requires permission from the Tampa Parks Department Forestry Division, and planting a tree on private property needs no permit at all.

Since 2019 a state statute has carved out an exception. The City's interpretation of Florida Statute 163.045, posted on its tree information page, sets three conditions. The owner must hold documentation from an on-site assessment by an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect, following the Best Management Practices Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017). That documentation must show the tree poses an unacceptable risk, meaning removal is the only practical way to bring its risk below moderate. And the tree must stand on residential property, which Tampa reads as a single-family detached building on a lot actively used for single-family purposes.

When all three conditions are met, the statute bars Tampa from requiring notice or a permit to prune, trim or remove the tree. The City of Tampa reported in September 2022 that the original law passed the Florida Legislature in 2019 and was amended by the legislature in 2022, after which the City issued a memorandum explaining how its tree removal regulations apply.

The City treats an unpermitted removal as permanent harm. Its tree page describes removal of a protected tree without a permit as an irreparable or irreversible violation which can be subject to fines, and directs complaints to Tampa Code Enforcement or the online customer service center.

One case set the benchmark. In a September 12, 2022 announcement, the City of Tampa reported that a tree-cutting firm had killed 28 grand and protected trees at a former mobile home park on West Gandy Boulevard in August 2019, and that a Circuit Court judge upheld a $234,427.50 fine, which the City called unprecedented. A Code Enforcement Special Magistrate had ruled that the 2019 state law did not apply to the commercially zoned Gandy property. At Mayor Jane Castor's direction, the City also filed an ethics complaint with the International Society of Arboriculture against the arborist who had called the trees dangerous, and the ISA issued a public reprimand.

The Tree Canopy Analysis by City Planning found that Tampa's municipal forest consists of 10,401,421 trees and 114 tree and palm species, with 86 percent native species. The City estimates the canopy removes 1,004 tons of air pollutants, cuts residential air conditioning and heating costs by $6.3 million, and reduces 7.48 million cubic feet of stormwater runoff, for a total structural value of $2.03 billion.

Public trees get their own crew. According to the City's urban forest page, Tampa has been nationally designated a Tree City USA since 1981, and its Urban Forestry Team cares for trees in the City's 178 parks and 1,441 miles of street rights-of-way, with five ISA Certified Arborists on staff. Through the Tree-Mendous Tampa program, residents can request a free tree for the right-of-way, and the City's Preferred Tree List supports the Urban Forest Management Plan's goal of no net loss of canopy in Tampa.