Palm Beach Gardens, FL Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 78-303 states plainly that land cannot be landscaped, cleared, or grubbed in Palm Beach Gardens without written permission through site plan approval and a permit, and extends that same requirement to any individual tree: a tree cannot be cut down, destroyed, removed, or effectively destroyed by damaging it or changing the natural grade within its drip line without that same site plan approval and permit. Section 78-304 sets the mechanics: an application goes to the growth management director with a fee set by the city council, plus a separate land-clearing fee, and the department offers a pre-application site inspection with at least seven working days' notice so it can flag protection needs before construction.

Section 78-305 requires a full development application when there is no existing site plan or landscape plan approval, including a vegetation and habitat map that specifically locates protected trees, as designated by the city council, on a survey signed and sealed by a registered surveyor. The exemption in section 78-303 for residential property, as defined in section 78-326, is not absolute: it excludes only sections 78-314(d) and 78-321 from the exemption, and it does not exempt landscape easements located on single-family or duplex lots, which remain fully subject to the permitting article.