Walton County, FL Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

The Point Washington Neighborhood Plan, Appendix NP-5 to the Land Development Code, generally requires a clearing permit from Planning and Development Services before anyone removes, destroys, or damages a protected tree, defined as a Live Oak, Southern Magnolia, or Long Leaf Pine of eighteen inches or more in diameter at breast height. c carves out a utility-operations exemption from that permit requirement: communication, water, sewer, and electrical utilities, along with federal, state, or county agencies and their contracted engineers or surveyors, may excavate, prune, or remove trees to maintain existing lines or build new ones without first obtaining a tree-clearing permit, so long as the work stays within the area needed for the utility service and avoids unnecessary removal.

The plan singles out CHELCO's overhead power lines by name, requiring clearance from the ground to the sky for ten feet on either side of the pole line, whether for maintaining existing facilities or building new ones, and it requires that pruning and trimming follow National Arborist Association Standards rather than an ad hoc cut. Before doing the work, the utility or agency must give Planning and Development Services written notice of the areas where the trimming or removal will occur, except when the work restores service interrupted by an emergency, in which case no advance notice is required.

The exemption is limited to Point Washington's roughly 112-acre overlay; the same numeric clearance is repeated, with the same exemptions, in the newer Old Seagrove Neighborhood Plan Overlay District adopted in 2025.