Walton County, FL Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Adopted February 27, 2025 by Ordinance No. 1. Anyone clearing land in the overlay must first submit a Tree Survey and Plan identifying every tree of six inches or more in diameter, its species, and which ones are proposed for removal, before Planning and Development Services will issue a land-clearing permit. Property owners are encouraged to route driveways to avoid protected trees that form a canopy over the neighborhood's roads; for each canopy tree removed to make way for a driveway, a replacement protected-species tree of at least three-inch caliper diameter at breast height must be planted in the front or side setback, or in the right-of-way with county approval.

During construction, the plan requires crews to avoid encroaching on a protected tree's critical root zone with fill, materials, or equipment. The same exemptions found in Point Washington apply here too: single-family construction within ten feet of the footprint outside the first ten feet of the front setback, required infrastructure, utility line maintenance including the ten-foot CHELCO clearance, listed invasive species, and hazardous trees. A tree removed without a permit or qualifying exemption must be replaced at the violator's expense, and the replacement tree must be planted and inspected before the county will issue a certificate of occupancy for the property.