Fort Lauderdale, FL Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Fort Lauderdale regulates work on trees standing in the public right-of-way, not just on private lots. Sec. 25-147 makes it unlawful for anyone to cut, prune, break, incline, injure, remove, plant, or otherwise deface a living tree, shrub, or vine in a public highway or park, or to cut, disturb, or interfere with its roots, without a written permit from the city manager or the director of the parks and recreation department. That permit requirement covers the parkway or swale strip between the sidewalk and the roadway just as much as it covers a park, and the section puts the cost squarely on the resident: all expenses incurred in planting or removing any trees within the lines of the street are paid by the owner of the trees, not the city.

Two adjoining sections round out the protection scheme. Sec. 25-148 requires anyone erecting or repairing a building or structure to place guards around nearby trees, shrubs, or vines standing in a public highway or park so construction work doesn't injure them. Sec. 25-149 separately bans throwing salt water, oil, or any other injurious substance onto a public highway or park where it could reach the roots of a public tree, shrub, or vine. For larger landscape work on city property itself, such as rights-of-way, entranceways, and center islands, Sec.

25-150 requires city commission approval and submission of plat, planting, sprinkler, pool, and electrical plans to the relevant city departments before construction begins, and Sec. 25-146 requires any request to have the city adopt maintenance of a new landscaped area to be filed at least one city fiscal year ahead of the requested acceptance date.