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

Section 46-13 flatly bars any property owner from permitting trees, bushes, shrubs, or other growths on his property to grow so as to encroach upon the city's public right-of-way in any manner. The ordinance defines the encroachment broadly: overhanging branches, tree limbs, or other similar extrusions from plant life all count as prohibited encroachments on the right-of-way, so the rule covers growth reaching over a sidewalk, street, or swale, not just growth planted within the right-of-way itself. The section is paired with Section 46-14, which separately governs vegetation encroaching onto a neighboring private parcel and gives the adjacent owner self-help trimming rights, but Section 46-13 applies specifically where the encroachment reaches city-owned right-of-way rather than another private lot.

The provision traces to Code 1979 Section 3947A and cross-references the city's landscape requirements in the separately adopted Land Development Code at Section 98-119 and following, as well as the right-of-way placement rules at Section 98-133. Because the Land Development Code itself was not part of this review, only the Chapter 46 encroachment prohibition is addressed here; any specific clearance heights or permitting requirements for right-of-way plantings live in that separate instrument.