Palm Coast, FL Tree Protection: Tree Removal Permits (2026)

Per the City's Help Center: 'You need a permit to cut down, remove, damage or destroy by pruning any tree with a caliper of the trunk six inches or greater in diameter at a height of four and 1/2 feet above grade or the caliper of the trunk four inches or greater in diameter at a height of four and 1/2 feet that has been surveyed for credit.' Substantive rules are in Land Development Code Chapter 11 — Tree Protection, Landscaping, Buffering and Irrigation. Building Services (160 Lake Avenue, Palm Coast FL 32164; 386-986-3780; Monday-Friday 8am-5pm) issues the permits. Ordinance 2016-6 (amending Chapter 11) provides that owners of lots in SFR, DPX, and EST zoning districts may remove any specimen or historic tree within the buildable area of the lot with no mitigation, provided all reasonable efforts to shift or flip the building footprint cannot save the tree. FS 163.045 expressly preempts the City permit when (a) the property is a single-family, detached residence actively used as such; (b) the owner has on-site written documentation from an ISA-certified arborist or Florida-licensed landscape architect; (c) the assessment follows ANSI/ISA BMP — Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017); and (d) the tree is documented to pose a danger to persons or property. The exemption does not extend to multifamily, commercial, ROW trees, or trees that were part of an approved development landscape plan.