Sarasota County, FL Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Sarasota County Code § 54-584(1) makes it unlawful, absent a Tree Permit or an exemption, to engage in Tree Removal, Tree Relocation, cause Irreparable Injury to a tree, or initiate development where a tree exists. Section 54-586(1) requires a Tree Permit before any of those activities or before new development affecting a tree, unless an exemption in § 54-585 applies. The largest exemption, § 54-585(1)(a), removes six named exotic species plus the entire Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council Category I invasive list from the permit requirement: Brazilian Pepper, Punk or Melaleuca, Australian Pine, Carrotwood, Chinaberry and Chinese Tallow may all be cut without authorization.

Other exemptions cover emergencies declared by the Board, bona fide agricultural land under the Florida Right to Farm Act, licensed nurseries, and owner-occupied residential lots of five acres or less once a certificate of occupancy has issued, though that residential exemption never covers a Grand Tree or land inside the Myakka River Protection Zone or a Canopy Road Protection Zone (§ 54-585(1)(e)). Where a permit is required, § 54-586(3) sets review deadlines: four working days for single- and two-family lots and seven working days for all other parcels after a complete application is filed, and the Administrator can require replacement plantings or relocation under § 54-589.

An aggrieved applicant may appeal an Administrator decision to the Board under § 54-592, a process that carries no filing fee but does not stay enforcement while pending.