Tamarac, FL Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

The Land Development Code's landscape maintenance rules place tree-trimming duties squarely on property owners rather than the city. Under Sec. 10-4.4(P)(1)(a), "all owners of land or their agents shall be responsible for the maintenance of all landscaping," which the code says includes "mowing and maintaining abutting rights-of-way, swales, lakes, and canal banks." Under Sec. 10-4.4(P)(2)(d)(i), "all property owners or their agents must prune trees in accordance with ANSI A-300, as amended from time to time," and any pruner who does the work commercially must also hold a Broward County tree trimmer license in addition to a local business license.

The clearance standard is specific: any landscaping growing into a public right-of-way must be pruned to a minimum of eight and a half feet above sidewalks, fourteen feet above local and collector streets, and eighteen feet above arterial streets, while growth over a canal right-of-way needs only eight feet of clearance above the mean water level or seawall. The broader maintenance duty in Sec. 10-4.4(P)(1)(c) also requires trimming "low-hanging branches and those obstructing street lighting and affecting required sight distance standards," and requires unpaved rights-of-way abutting a property to be kept mowed to six inches or less, echoing the identical height limit in City Code Sec.

20-112. Separately, Sec. 10-4.4(P)(1)(f) makes it "unlawful for a property owner to allow any hazardous tree...to remain on the property" once a certified arborist or licensed landscape architect finds it defective, diseased, dying, dead or a structural-failure risk, with the Director of Community Development given final authority over whether a tree qualifies as hazardous and whether a removal permit is required.