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

Section 40.704(N), Preservation and Protection of Trees, is the city's tree article. No one can remove a tree without a tree removal license permit from DEES, the Department of Environmental and Engineering Services, and no one can remove a historical tree without approval from the City Commission. Tree abuse is separately prohibited, as are excavations or changes of grade within a tree's drip line, and storing materials or equipment there.

The fee is $10 for an initial application on developed residential occupied property and $50 on all other property, both nonrefundable, plus $10 for each tree removed or relocated. No fee applies to trees relocated or lying in a utility easement and required to be removed for utility service, to trees damaging public property after a code enforcement notice of violation, or to governmental agencies in areas dedicated to public use. Applications go on DEES forms with a site map, a start date and duration, a description of the work with a drawing or certified site plan, the legal description, and, for undeveloped or redeveloped property, a certified tree survey.

DEES can issue a permit when one criterion is present, such as a development that cannot fit on the site without removal, a tree of poor quality or condition, a tree obstructing safe vehicular cross visibility or damaging existing improvements, a tree growing too close to another tree, or a tree inhibiting rooftop photovoltaic solar systems. Before issuing, DEES conducts a tree relocation evaluation.

Exemptions include hazardous trees documented by photographs, residential trees backed by documentation from an ISA certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect under Section 163.045, Florida Statutes, licensed nursery stock, and nuisance trees. Trees that cannot be relocated are replaced to make up lost canopy: a Category 1 tree 12 feet tall earns 300 square feet of credit, 13 feet or taller earns 350, and 16 feet or taller earns 400. Replacement must be finished within six months of the permit.