Tampa Tree Protection Rules

Most sizeable trees inside Tampa city limits are protected under section 27-284 of the city code, which covers oaks, pines, elms and similar trees greater than 5 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet above the ground.

The City of Tampa tree information page states that trees are protected by local laws under section 27-284 of the city code, part of the Chapter 27 natural resources rules for trees, landscaping, wetlands and upland habitat. The 4.5-foot measuring point is diameter at breast height, or DBH, the figure every Tampa threshold uses. The same page says no person shall cut down, remove, relocate, damage, destroy or in any manner abuse any protected tree in the city until the work is authorized by a permit issued by the Development and Growth Management Department.

The removal threshold is low. According to the City's tree resources page, all removals of trees 5 inches in DBH or above require a permit, with invasive species excluded, and the City points owners to the latest Florida Exotic Plant Species list for tree species banned in the state. The size thresholds that decide which Tampa rule applies are summarized below.

A grand tree in Tampa is any tree 32 inches or greater in DBH, and removing one that is not hazardous may require a Variance Review Board, City Council or other public process decision.

The City of Tampa's tree resources page says grand trees require special circumstances for removal, and that before a grand tree comes down the applicant must first go through public notice. The City's General and Administrative Fee Schedule, effective October 1, 2018 and updated December 11, 2023, lists a Grand Tree Evaluation at $120.00 per property for both residential and commercial properties, an item subject to the Florida Building Permit Surcharge.

City Council receives a running account of those decisions. Chapter 27-284 requires the Natural Resources Coordinator to prepare a Tree Removal Zone report to City Council on the impact of the Tree Removal Zone 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 most recent report the City posts on that page is dated December 2020.

A Tampa property owner needs a permit to remove any non-invasive tree of 5 inches DBH or more and to prune any tree of 24 inches DBH or more, while pruning smaller trees and planting new ones needs no permit.

The tree resources page says pruning a tree 23 inches or under in DBH requires no permit, and that removal permits are applied for online. Every pruning or removal permit is inspected or reviewed by a Forester from Natural Resources before release, or the owner can hire a City of Tampa Self-Certified Private Arborist whose report Natural Resources reviews. The City's tree information page now says that self-certified pilot program concluded in November 2023 and is being replaced by Chapter 27 code training offered to all ISA Certified Arborists, so the two Tampa pages describe the arborist option differently.

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 property. Natural Resources sets the mitigation value during review, and if there is no room to reasonably replant on site, the owner can pay into the Tampa tree fund. Neither the tree pages nor the Construction Services fee page checked list a separate dollar fee for a standard tree removal or pruning permit, so applicants should confirm any charge with Construction Services at (813) 274-3100, Option 1.

Building projects follow a separate track. For an addition, pool, accessory structure or new house, the removal is evaluated under the building permit by marking the tree as a removal on the site plan, and added removals during construction require a Building Plan Revision. Pruning a tree in the city right-of-way requires permission from the Tampa Parks Department Forestry Division, and residents can request a free right-of-way tree through the Tree-Mendous Tampa program.

Florida Statute 163.045 bars Tampa from requiring a notice, permit, fee or mitigation to prune, trim or remove a tree at a single-family home when a qualified arborist documents that the tree poses an unacceptable risk.

The statute, which binds the City of Tampa as a local government, defines documentation as an onsite assessment under Best Management Practices, Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017), by an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect, and says a tree poses an unacceptable risk if removal is the only practical way to bring its risk below moderate. Residential property means a single-family, detached building on a lot actively used for single-family residential purposes.

The City of Tampa's tree information page repeats those three conditions as its updated interpretation of the exemption, and says that if all are met the statute prohibits the City from requiring notice or a permit to prune, trim or remove the tree. In a September 12, 2022 release, the City said the Legislature passed the original law in 2019 and amended it in 2022, and that the City had issued a memorandum on how its tree removal regulations apply.

The City of Tampa treats removal of a protected tree without a permit as an irreparable or irreversible violation that can be subject to fines, and takes complaints through Code Enforcement at (813) 274-5545.

That wording comes from the City's tree information page, which also links an online complaint form. It matches the language of Florida Statute 162.09, which lets a code enforcement board impose up to $5,000 per violation for an irreparable or irreversible violation, and lets a county or municipality of 50,000 or more adopt an ordinance allowing up to $15,000 per such violation. The City pages checked do not say which ceiling applies in Tampa.

One Tampa case shows the scale. In its September 12, 2022 release, the City said 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 had 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 property, and the City also filed an ethics complaint with the International Society of Arboriculture, which issued a public reprimand.

The City's Tree Canopy Analysis counted 10,401,421 trees of 114 tree and palm species in Tampa's municipal forest, with 86 percent native species and an estimated structural value of $2.03 billion.

The Tree Canopy Analysis page by City Planning says the Tampa canopy reduces 1,004 tons of air pollutants, cuts residential building air conditioning and heating costs by $6.3 million, and reduces 7.48 million cubic feet of stormwater runoff. The page does not give a study year and says the final report is available from the project manager.

Public trees get their own crew. According to the City's urban forest page, Tampa has been nationally designated a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation 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 among its staff.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, by checking the City of Tampa Tree Information, Tree Resources, fee schedule, TRZ report, Tree Canopy Analysis and Urban Forest pages, the City's September 2022 tree enforcement release, and Florida Statutes 162.09 and 163.045 on Online Sunshine.