Flagler County, FL Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Section 26-55 of the county's Roads, Bridges and Miscellaneous Public Places chapter governs any landscaping placed in a dedicated or planned public right-of-way. Subsection (b)(1) bars planting or building any landscaping in the right-of-way, including a parkway strip, until the county engineer approves landscape construction plans and issues a right-of-way utilization permit. Within a median island, and within 100 feet of a median nose, plantings are capped at a maximum height of 24 inches above the road grade at the travelway centerline, and trees are normally barred from medians unless they fit within the state's clear-zone and clear-sight-distance standards.

A four-foot mowing strip must separate any plantings from the curb or pavement edge, and trees on private property cannot overhang the right-of-way in a way that blocks sight distance at intersections. Under subsection (b)(7), the county can refuse to authorize any parkway or median landscaping plan outright if, in the county's judgment, it would create a safety hazard or obstruct sight distance, with public safety treated as the deciding factor. The same section separately bars planting poisonous or exotic pest plant species anywhere in a public right-of-way.

Because this is a right-of-way standard tied to county-maintained roads, it applies in the unincorporated area; Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, Marineland and Bunnell maintain their own rights-of-way and set their own landscaping permit rules for them.