Citrus County, FL Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

B of the LDC's Chapter Five, Landscaping, Buffering and Tree Preservation (Ord. 2025-A04, March 11, 2025), designates any tree exceeding 24 inches dbh a 'Specimen Tree' and gives it 'special standards for protection' beyond the base four-inch protected-tree threshold. For nonresidential development, Sec. C requires that specimen trees 'be preserved and protected from development'; where preservation is not possible, the developer must meet the LDC's mitigation standards. For subdivisions, Sec. ' Sec. D also requires every subdivision tree-protection plan to show the location and dbh of all specimen trees within any area affected by construction, using an aerial photo overlaid on the proposed plat.

The countywide mitigation fee schedule in Sec. 5750 prices a replacement credit at $250 per tree for trees in the four-to-five-inch dbh range, with larger trees, where most specimen trees fall, priced from a table in the county's Administrative Regulations rather than the ordinance text itself. Money paid in lieu of physical reforestation goes into the Citrus County Landscape Enhancement Fund, which the LDC directs toward county tree-planting projects. This designation and its preservation duty apply only to unincorporated Citrus County land; Crystal River and Inverness are not covered.