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.
North Port, FL
Beekeeping in Florida is regulated primarily under F.S. §586 and state agricultural rules administered by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ...
North Port, FL
Florida Administrative Code 68A-4.001 prohibits intentional feeding of bears, foxes, raccoons, sandhill cranes, and alligators statewide. North Port lies adj...
North Port, FL
North Port has no breed-specific dog regulations. Florida HB 941 (effective Oct 1, 2023) amended F.S. §767.14 to preempt all local breed-specific ordinances,...
North Port, FL
Dogs in North Port must be under physical restraint (leash, fence, or owner control) when off the owner's property, per Code Ch. 10 and Sarasota County anima...
North Port, FL
Ordinance 2016-42 amended Sec. 53-121(H) of the ULDC to permit hens as accessory to a single-family residence in Residential Single-Family (RSF) districts: u...
North Port, FL
Sec. 59-1 of the North Port Code requires owners to maintain branches at least 8 feet above sidewalks and 14 feet above the travelled portion of streets. Tri...
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