Section 163.045 expressly applies regardless of any local heritage, specimen, or champion tree designation, preempting protective ordinances when an arborist documents danger.
The 2019 amendment to Section 163.045, Florida Statutes, was specifically intended to override local heritage tree ordinances. The statute reads that no local ordinance, regulation, or comprehensive plan provision may require a permit or fee for the removal of a tree (including those designated as heritage, specimen, grand, or champion) on residential property when the qualified arborist documentation is in place. The Florida Attorney General's 2019 Advisory AGO 2019-15 confirmed this scope, and Florida appellate courts have upheld the statute against home-rule challenges.
Municipalities enforcing heritage tree restrictions against owners with valid arborist documentation expose themselves to suit for declaratory and injunctive relief under Section 163.045.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Navarre, FL
Navarre is unincorporated Santa Rosa County, so the County's animal and zoning ordinances apply. Santa Rosa County allows backyard chickens in most residenti...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Backyard composting of yard and food scraps is allowed in Santa Rosa County with no permit for home-scale piles. Keep compost contained and free of odor and ...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County has no ordinance banning residential artificial turf, and it is not counted as required landscaping. The county's landscape code favors nat...
Santa Rosa County, FL
New development in Santa Rosa County must use native, Florida-Friendly species and may not plant invasive exotics. Existing single-family and duplex homes ar...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Rain barrels and rainwater harvesting are legal and encouraged in Santa Rosa County. Florida places no state restriction on collecting rainwater for irrigati...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County lies in the Northwest Florida Water Management District, which imposes NO day-of-week landscape-irrigation limits. Everyday lawn watering i...
See how Navarre's heritage & protected trees rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.