This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm with the government office that covers your address.
A "Lakeland" mailing address doesn't always mean you're in the city. Your property tax record or the City will tell you. City rules apply inside city limits. Outside them, county rules or another city's rules apply.
Lakeland's tree preservation rules are in Land Development Code section 4.5.10, amended by Ordinance 24-037 (adopted September 16, 2024). In short: 1. The rules apply to regulated trees affected by development activity. 2. Exempt: single- and two-family parcels under one acre, covering no more than two lots and not part of a site plan or subdivision. 3. Also exempt: emergency and post-disaster recovery work, and utility maintenance.
The City's Tree Removal Permit Application and urban forest information are on Lakeland's Urban Forest page. If your property is one acre or larger, or the work is part of a development, read the ordinance and contact the City before any cutting.
Trees near the street: a tree between the sidewalk and the road may not be yours. Ask the City before you trim or remove it.
Under Section 163.045, Florida Statutes, if you own a single-family detached home and have documentation from an ISA-certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect that a tree poses an unacceptable risk to people or property, a local government may not require a notice, application, approval, permit, fee or mitigation to prune, trim or remove it, and may not require you to replant. The documentation has to follow the ISA tree risk assessment procedures named in the statute. Ask the tree company whether it works with a certified arborist who can do that assessment.
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Lot and acreage work is more likely to go over the one-acre threshold or count as development. Read land clearing first. For a single tree, go to tree removal in Lakeland.
Do I need a permit to remove a tree from my house lot in Lakeland?
Inside city limits, Lakeland's tree preservation rules (LDC 4.5.10, as amended by Ordinance 24-037) mainly apply to trees affected by development activity. Single- and two-family parcels under one acre, of no more than two lots and not part of a site plan or subdivision, are exempt. Confirm with the City of Lakeland for your property.
What if the tree is dangerous?
Under Section 163.045, Florida Statutes, if you have documentation from an ISA-certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect that a tree on your single-family residential property poses an unacceptable risk, a local government may not require a notice, application, approval, permit, fee or mitigation, or require you to replant.
I'm outside Lakeland city limits. Which rules apply?
Check with Polk County, or with your own city if you live in another municipality such as Winter Haven or Bartow. Plant City is in Hillsborough County, so Polk County rules don't apply there.
Call (863) 267-9528 or send your tree details through our contact page. It's free to request. An independent local company reviews your job and sets its own price; we don't do the work.
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Tree Removal Lakeland is an independent service that connects callers with local tree care providers; we are not a tree contractor. Disclosure