Tree removal permit rules in Spring Hill, FL — sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances — list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Hernando County Code Chapter 10 (Community Appearance), Article II (Landscaping) governs tree removal in unincorporated Spring Hill. A Land Clearing Permit is required before clearing under § 10-22, and Specimen trees (18-inch DBH or greater) and Majestic trees (36-inch DBH or greater) must be preserved unless the County Administrator finds one of the listed mitigating conditions (immediate safety hazard, infestation, property damage). Florida Statute 163.045 preempts the County permit on a single-family residential lot when the owner has on-site ISA-certified arborist documentation that the tree is dangerous.
Hernando County Code Section 10-22 (Land clearing permits) states that clearing land without a Land Clearing Permit is unlawful; the permit must be posted on the site before construction commences. Section 10-23 (Tree preservation) requires commercial projects to retain or install a minimum of fifteen (15) trees per acre with at least five (5) shade trees, and specifies that 'Majestic trees shall be preserved.' Definitions: Specimen tree = DBH of 18 inches or greater; Majestic tree = DBH of 36 inches or greater; Regulated tree = DBH of 3 inches or greater but less than 18 inches; DBH measured 4.5 feet above the soil line, with multi-trunk diameters summed. Section 10-23 allows the County Administrator (or designee) to authorize removal of a specimen or majestic tree upon finding any of the following: the tree is an immediate safety hazard, the tree has an infestation of insects or pathogen that may reasonably be expected to lead to the death of the tree or spread to other trees, or the tree is causing or may reasonably be expected to cause property damage. State preemption: FS 163.045 prevents the County from requiring a permit when the property is a single-family detached residence used as such AND the owner holds on-site ISA-certified arborist (or FL landscape architect) documentation prepared under ISA BMP — Tree Risk Assessment, 2nd Ed. (2017) — that the tree poses a danger. Mangroves are separately preempted to FDEP under FS 403.9321-403.9333 and are not addressed by Chapter 10.
Clearing land without a Land Clearing Permit under § 10-22 is unlawful and is enforced by Code Enforcement with mandatory restoration, replacement plantings under Chapter 10 Article II, and Code Enforcement Magistrate fines. Removing a Specimen or Majestic tree without the § 10-23 administrator finding (and without FS 163.045 documentation) can require like-for-like mitigation scaled to the DBH of the removed tree. Mangrove removal without an FDEP permit can carry separate state penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Spring Hill, FL
Solar installations in Spring Hill require a building permit through the Hernando County Building Division and must comply with the Florida Building Code (FB...
Spring Hill, FL
Florida Statute § 509.102 forbids Hernando County from prohibiting food trucks 'within the entirety of the entity's jurisdiction,' which preempts countywide ...
Spring Hill, FL
Florida Statute § 509.102 (enacted as HB 1193 in 2020) preempts local regulation of mobile food dispensing vehicle licenses, registrations, permits, and fees...
Spring Hill, FL
U.S. airspace is federally regulated by the FAA (Part 107 for commercial; 49 U.S.C. § 44809 for recreational flyers). Florida Statute § 330.41 (the Unmanned ...
Spring Hill, FL
Hernando County does not impose a numeric cap on garage / yard / estate / moving sales in unincorporated Spring Hill — there is no countywide ordinance limit...
Spring Hill, FL
Spring Hill was master-planned by the Deltona Corporation in 1967 with 28,500 platted lots sold in three years, leaving thousands of small individually owned...
See how Spring Hill's tree removal & heritage trees rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.