Cape Coral, FL Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

2, defines a Heritage Tree as "a Florida native canopy tree with a 20-inch caliper DBH or larger" (DBH is diameter at breast height). 8, Existing Trees, builds the protection duty around that definition: developers are encouraged to preserve existing heritage trees, and for any site other than a single-family or duplex site, if a heritage tree is removed or damaged at any time during development or throughout the life of the development, regardless of any later change in ownership or use, it must be replaced with a Florida native tree meeting the article's quality standards, minimum six-inch caliper measured 12 inches above grade, and minimum 20-foot height.

That replacement duty is capped so it cannot inflate the site's total required tree count by more than 10%. B also requires a protective barrier around any tree, heritage or otherwise, that is not slated for removal before land preparation begins: the barrier must enclose a radius of one foot per inch of caliper DBH, use posts implanted deep enough for stability with at least three feet visible above ground, spaced no more than six feet apart and linked by rope, chain, silt fence fabric, or orange safety fence at least three feet high.

No wires, signs, or attachments may be fastened to a protected tree, and construction personnel are barred from the protected radius except for manual-labor landscaping work; no more than six inches of fill soil may be placed inside the barrier. The barrier must stay in place until all construction activity except landscaping is finished. Single-family and duplex lots fall outside the heritage-tree replacement requirement entirely, and trees grown as commercial nursery stock are exempt from the barrier rule.