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

4 makes removing, cutting down, relocating, damaging, or otherwise abusing any 'protected' tree in Tampa illegal without a permit issued by the Planning and Development Department (PDD), the code specifically labels an unpermitted removal an 'irreparable or irreversible violation,' language it doesn't use for lesser tree-code infractions. The permit must be applied for by the property owner or by a professional licensed or authorized by the city to remove and plant trees, and the application has to include a tree survey as defined in Section 27-43, with arborist verification available from the natural resources coordinator or an outside arborist.

Subsection (b) ties this to the building process: the city will not issue a building permit until any required tree removal permit is approved, so a protected tree on a development site has to clear this process before construction can proceed. 4 is met, for example, the tree sits in a small-lot Tree Removal Zone and conflicts with a proposed structure's footprint, it's diseased or irreversibly damaged, it blocks a required sightline at a street or right-of-way that pruning can't fix, or it stands in the path of an approved infrastructure improvement.

For construction-impact removals, the applicant must first show the development can't reasonably be reconfigured, altering a building's placement, height, or size, or a driveway's layout, to save the tree, subject to limits on how far a design exception can shift a structure. No more than thirty percent of the protected trees on a parcel may be removed for infrastructure improvements serving a new subdivision. 1.