Coconut Creek, FL Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 13-448 of the Coconut Creek Code makes tree protection the City Commission's stated policy. The commission declares tree destruction a public nuisance that must be controlled, and permit review gives priority to preservation and relocation. An applicant who cannot relocate a tree must replace it, and an applicant who can do neither pays into the tree preservation trust fund. The director of the Department of Sustainable Development accepts those payments, and the money can only be spent on tree planting inside the city, with ancillary costs capped at 20 percent of a planting project.

The permit requirement covers more than felling. The code defines effectively destroy to reach poisoning, excessive trimming, grade changes over the critical root zone, herbicide damage and a trunk wound of 50 percent or more of the circumference. Exemptions include removal of a diseased or injured tree that poses an unacceptable risk when the owner documents the condition, owner-occupied single-family and duplex lots of one acre or less, licensed nurseries and groves removing stock grown for sale, and removal of planted landscape trees before a certificate of occupancy. The small-lot exemption does not reach trees preserved or replaced under an earlier permit, historical or special status trees, required site plan buffers, or street-tree-theme plantings. Non-emergency removals by franchised utilities need 15 calendar days notice to the city and the owner, and cannot touch historical or special status trees.

A permit runs three months, with one extension equal to the original term. Replacement is measured in canopy: a Category 1 tree counts 300 square feet, Category 2 counts 150, Category 3 counts 100 and Category 4 counts 50. At least half of the replacement trees must be Category 1, and each must be Florida No. 1 grade or better. Under Sec. 13-445(b), other existing vegetation also needs city consent by permit unless it is an imminent danger to public safety.