Flagler County, FL Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Code § 26-55(b)(6), inside the chapter governing roads, bridges and miscellaneous public places, states flatly that poisonous or exotic pest plant species cannot be planted in any planned or dedicated public right-of-way in unincorporated Flagler County. That prohibition sits inside the same landscaping and irrigation section that requires a right-of-way utilization permit for any planting in the right-of-way, caps median plantings at 24 inches, and lets the county refuse to authorize a parkway or median landscaping plan that would create a safety hazard. 01 as Brazilian pepper, Australian pine, punk tree (melaleuca) and Chinese tallow, four aggressive non-native species the county excludes from its protected-tree list; because they carry no protected status, they can be removed as ordinary 'underbrushing' without a tree-removal permit, unlike the county's 24 native protected species.

Neither provision imposes a county-wide ban on growing these species on private land outside the right-of-way; the § 26-55(b)(6) prohibition is limited to public rights-of-way, and the nuisance-tree definition only affects permitting for removal, not planting, on private property. These are unincorporated Flagler County standards; Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, Marineland and Bunnell set their own rules on invasive landscaping within their own limits.