Daytona Beach, FL Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 86-199 sets the baseline rule that trees and plants on public property may not be disturbed without first securing city permission, and § 86-200 separately bars placing or maintaining trees, plants, or other obstructions that impede traffic movement. Section 86-201(a) sharpens that for trimming specifically: no person may cut, trim, or remove any tree or shrub on public property except in an emergency without the city's prior approval. Subsection (b) then addresses the reverse situation for clearance over streets and sidewalks: where roots, trunk, or branches of a tree, shrub, or other vegetation on private property extend into a street, park, sidewalk, or other public way, the city reserves the right to prune those roots or limbs itself to maintain visibility and the structural integrity of sidewalks, curbs, and roads.

Administration runs through the parks division of the public works department under a parks manager, guided by the beautification and tree advisory board under §§ 86-196 and 86-197, which enforces the city's beautification and planting plan under § 86-198. Section 86-202 rounds out the article by barring any injurious substance from being placed near a tree or plant on city-controlled property. Together these sections mean a homeowner cannot unilaterally trim the oak in the public right-of-way strip in front of a house, but also cannot ignore a private tree's limbs hanging over a public sidewalk, since the city can step in and cut them back itself.