St. Johns County protects specimen and heritage trees through its Land Development Code on development and non-residential sites. On residential property, Florida Statute 163.045 preempts even specimen-tree permits when an arborist documents an unacceptable risk.
The St. Johns County Land Development Code designates protected, specimen, and historic trees by species and trunk size and sets higher mitigation ratios for removing them during development. Those protections bind non-residential parcels and site-plan review. On residential property the picture flips: Florida Statute 163.045 stops the county from requiring any permit, fee, or mitigation to remove even a large or specimen tree once the owner holds documentation from an ISA-certified arborist or landscape architect that it poses an unacceptable risk. Live oaks and other landmark canopy trees in St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra Beach thus enjoy strong protection on public and development land, but not against a documented residential hazard removal.
Removing a designated specimen or heritage tree on a development or non-residential site without a permit brings elevated mitigation, replacement, and fines under the Land Development Code. Documented residential removals are exempt under Florida Statute 163.045.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
St. Johns County, FL
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