Gulfport Tree Removal Permits, Pruning and Development Rules
Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Next review due April 2, 2027. By Forest, Property Intelligence Specialist, Ken's Tree Service.
Gulfport calls its approval a tree removal permit: the ordinary route is an application to Community Development before covered removal, subject to the palm exemption and qualifying state-law route explained below. The application is either a residential sketch or a tree site plan reviewed with a building permit, depending on the property's qualifications under Section 22-20.06.
Start with the city or county tree-permit guide if you are still identifying the government responsible for your address. This article is a regional reference, not an offer to perform work in Gulfport.
Does Gulfport allow a tree to be removed simply because the owner wants it gone?
Owner preference alone is not one of Gulfport's listed removal grounds; ordinary applications must meet the ordinance's criteria, subject to its exemptions and the qualifying state-law route below. The ordinance expressly aims to maintain a healthy, diverse, mature canopy through retention, replacement and tree care. Section 22-20.07 Section 22-20.01
A tree may be a candidate under the city's criteria if it is dead, in danger of falling, crowded out by another tree, endangering existing structures or utility works, causing unsafe street or alley visibility, or on the undesirable-species list below. Those are application grounds, not a direction to perform work or an automatic permit exemption; Community Development decides the application. Section 22-20.07
For the separate development-based removal ground, all four conditions must be met: a structure or improvement can lawfully occupy the location; no reasonable development accommodation would retain the tree, or no reasonable economic use is possible without removal; relocation on or off the property is impracticable because of age, type or size; and the tree is neither a specimen nor a designated historic tree. Section 22-20.07
Which trees need a Gulfport removal permit?
Subject to the palm exemption and qualifying state-law route below, the ordinary private-property removal trigger is a tree with one or more stems at least six inches DBH; removing, altering or trimming any mangrove is separately covered regardless of size. Public-property trees have a different rule in the right-of-way section below. Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.10
The code defines a tree as a woody plant with one or more well-defined perennial trunks, a formed foliage crown and a mature height of at least fifteen feet, and specifically includes four named mangrove varieties. The maturity requirement is part of the definition, not a requirement that the particular tree already stand fifteen feet tall. Section 22-20.03
A dead tree meeting the ordinary trigger is not automatically permit-exempt under the city text: death is a removal ground, and the replacement exception is separate. Ask Community Development about that route rather than treating the tree's condition as permission to start. Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.07 Section 22-20.08
How do you measure a tree for Gulfport's DBH rule?
Measure the trunk's circumference at four and one-half feet above existing grade and divide by 3.14 to estimate its diameter; a six-inch DBH stem is about 18.8 inches around. The height is the code's measurement method, while the division and circumference equivalent are a geometric conversion, not an additional code threshold. Section 22-20.03
For a multi-stem tree, one qualifying stem triggers the ordinary removal-permit rule, subject to the palm exemption and qualifying state-law route below; do not add the stems together. The permit section supplies the six-inch threshold, rather than the definition of DBH. Section 22-20.05
Are palms, historic trees and emergencies treated differently?
Gulfport exempts all palms from Sections 22-20.05 through 22-20.09 only; that exemption does not extend to the public-property rule in Section 22-20.10 or the prohibited-planting rule in Section 22-20.11. A palm's location and other applicable approvals therefore still matter. Section 22-20.04
This covers every palm species, not only cabbage (sabal) palms: no private-property removal permit is needed for any palm under these tree-permit provisions, but a palm on public property still needs the Section 22-20.10 permit. Separate development and land-alteration approvals remain distinct from this tree-permit exemption. Section 22-20.04 Section 22-20.10 Section 15.5-21
Historic and specimen status comes from governmental designation, not a separate automatic trunk-size category: a historic tree must have been designated by resolution for its age, type, size or historic association, and a specimen tree must have been designated for retention in its natural state by the city, county or state. The development-based removal ground excludes both categories, without rewriting the other removal grounds as a blanket ban. Section 22-20.03 Section 22-20.07
The city's general emergency provision allows the city manager or designee to waive article provisions upon finding that this is necessary to restore order; it is not an automatic homeowner storm exemption. The utility-program emergency exception is narrower and appears in the public-property section below. Section 22-20.15 Section 22-20.10
Does pruning need a permit in Gulfport?
Section 22-20.05 does not require an ordinary private-tree permit merely for pruning that is not removal, but it expressly covers mangrove trimming and alteration, and the public utility-program rule is separate. Cutting or pruning a tree down to a stump counts as removal; the palm exemption and qualifying state-law route can change the answer. Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.03 Section 22-20.04 Section 22-20.10
Under the ordinary city rules, subject to those exceptions, no person may prune a tree at least six inches DBH, or any tree planted as a required replacement, to remove more than fifty percent of its canopy in one year or its entire canopy over any period. Owners and others with care, custody or control also may not allow that work, and intentional killing of these protected trees is separately prohibited. Section 22-20.09
The ordinance encourages ANSI A-300 pruning practices; it does not phrase that introductory encouragement as a separate blanket permit requirement. It also requires maintenance to avoid interference with rights-of-way, visibility triangles, streetlights and traffic controls, which must be considered alongside the pruning limits rather than as permission to disregard them. Section 22-20.01 Section 22-20.09
What changes for mangroves and buttonwood?
The city text requires a permit for mangroves of any size and says it is additional to any other governmental permit, but Florida's delegated mangrove law says no more than one mangrove alteration or trimming permit may be required within a delegated government's jurisdiction. Pinellas County administers the delegated program; obtain the county's determination of the permit or exemption route and ask Community Development to reconcile its local wording before treating this as a two-permit requirement. Section 22-20.05 Florida Statute 403.9324 FDEP delegated mangrove programs
The County's own guidance says the Pinellas County Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Code “now provides the sole regulation over mangroves in Pinellas County.” This supports routing the delegated-program question to the County, without treating the city's contrary permit wording as resolved for a particular application. Pinellas County mangrove guidance Section 22-20.05
The city definition lists red, white and black mangrove and buttonwood or button mangrove, but the botanical spellings are inconsistent: its red-mangrove name is “Rhizaphora mangle” in the definition and “Rhizophora mangle” in the permit section; white mangrove appears as “Laguncularea racemosa” and “Laguncularia racemose,” respectively. Both passages call buttonwood “Conocarpus erecta,” while the approved-tree list uses “Conocarpus erectus”; these are differences in the published city text, not different permit thresholds. Section 22-20.03 Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.16
Pinellas County identifies the three mangrove species as red, Rhizophora mangle; white, Laguncularia racemosa; and black, Avicennia germinans. For buttonwood, the city's approved list supplies Conocarpus erectus, also identified in the University of Florida native landscape plant reference. Pinellas County mangrove guidance Section 22-20.16
Florida's mangrove definition names only the three red, white and black species, not buttonwood, whereas Gulfport expressly includes buttonwood in its local definition. Do not assume the state mangrove delegation or its exclusion from Section 163.045 applies to buttonwood merely because the city calls it a mangrove; ask the responsible departments to identify the correct route for that species. Florida Statute 403.9325 Section 22-20.03 Florida Statute 163.045
For mangroves, the city's survey provision calls for the variety name and location of each clump, rather than a conventional individual-tree inventory. Its replacement wording allows a waiver after lawful removal where suitable mangrove habitat no longer exists, with substitution of another species providing comparable canopy; the delegated-law conflict still needs resolution rather than an assumption that this local condition automatically controls a county authorization. Section 22-20.05 Florida Statute 403.9324
Which species are undesirable or prohibited to plant?
Gulfport's undesirable-species list creates a removal ground, not a blanket permit exemption, and planting any listed species anywhere in the city is prohibited. For an existing tree, identify candidacy and ask Community Development to determine the applicable route, including the exemptions and state-law route. Section 22-20.07 Section 22-20.11
The complete city list is Australian pine; Brazilian pepper; carrotwood; catclaw mimosa; chinaberry; Chinese tallow or popcorn tree; ear tree or earpod tree; Eucalyptus; Ficus except Banyan (South American); Java plum; monkeypuzzle; punk tree; silk oak; and woman's tongue. The Ficus exception is part of the city's wording, not a general exception for every tree called a banyan. Section 22-20.07
For a tree planted in violation of the prohibition, the city can serve written notice requiring removal within fifteen days; if the owner or occupant does not comply, the city may remove it and lien the property for removal costs plus a $100 administrative fee. This is the city's enforcement process, not a recommendation to remove a particular tree yourself. Section 22-20.11
Who may apply, and which application path applies?
The ordinance allows any person to apply to Community Development and defines person to include an individual, partnership, corporation, association or other legal entity. The application path depends on the property's land use, zoning and existing dwelling, not simply whether the applicant is called a homeowner, business or association. Section 22-20.03 Section 22-20.06
Property test | Required tree submission |
|---|---|
Residential land use and zoning, with a residential dwelling in existence for at least six months | A sketch of the land showing trees proposed for removal. Section 22-20.06 |
Every property outside that test | A tree-removal application filed and reviewed with the building-permit application, including the tree site plan described in the development section. Section 22-20.06 |
An HOA common area, commercial site, institution or vacant development parcel is not entitled to the sketch route merely because its owner is an individual; conversely, the text does not automatically exclude all multifamily property from that route if its actual land use, zoning and dwelling satisfy the stated test. For existing nonqualifying property with no proposed building work, ask Community Development how it administers the code's building-permit coordination language. Section 22-20.06
When can Florida Statute 163.045 change the local permit answer?
Florida Statute 163.045 restricts local notice, application, approval, permit, fee and mitigation requirements for pruning, trimming or removing a tree only when its residential-property and documentation tests are met; it is not a general exemption for a tree described as dangerous, diseased or unwanted. The statute's current conditions come from the amendment effective July 1, 2022. Florida Statute 163.045 Chapter 2022-121
The qualifying property must have a single-family detached building on a lot actively used for single-family residential purposes, either conforming or legally recognized as nonconforming under the local land-development rules. Ordinary commercial, institutional, multifamily and HOA common-area property does not qualify merely because people live nearby or belong to an association. Florida Statute 163.045
The owner must possess documentation that a tree presents an unacceptable risk to persons or property: an onsite assessment performed and signed by an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect, using Best Management Practices - Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017). Under the statute, the risk test is met when removal is the only practical means of mitigating risk below moderate as determined by that professional using that standard. Florida Statute 163.045
For a tree removed in accordance with the statute, local government may not require replanting; the statute does not apply to the exercise of authority specifically delegated for mangrove protection under Sections 403.9321 through 403.9333. Neither this article nor the city code's broad “all real property” language determines whether a specific property satisfies the state test. Florida Statute 163.045 Section 22-20.02
What are the tree permit fees and enforcement consequences?
The city code says no fee is charged for the ordinary Section 22-20.05 tree permit, without a separate residential or commercial rate, but an after-the-fact permit has the distinct fee and limits shown in the enforcement table. Those statements remain subject to the qualifying state-law route and the separate mangrove issue above. Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.13
The tree-bank section describes receipts including “permit fees,” replacement fees and fines; that wording does not itself state a different ordinary permit price. The city's published building and zoning fee resolution contains no separately labeled tree-permit entry, so its general building fees should not silently replace the tree article's explicit no-fee provision. Section 22-20.14 Gulfport Resolution No. 2024-45
The following are the tree-specific enforcement provisions, not a single automatic combined bill; applicability depends on the violation and any controlling exemption or state-law route. Ordinance No. 2023-12, effective on final passage December 5, 2023, set the $125 per-inch payment and raised the after-the-fact fee from $50 to $100; the $100 per-tree fines predate it, and the codified November 21 history date is not its final-passage date. Section 22-20.13 Ordinance No. 2023-12, including certification
Situation under Section 22-20.13 | Codified consequence |
|---|---|
Tree unlawfully removed and not meeting the removal criteria | Replacement on a DBH inch-for-inch basis: total replacement DBH must equal or exceed total improperly removed DBH, using at least the article's minimum replacement sizes; an additional $100 fine applies per improperly removed tree. Section 22-20.13 |
Planting that enforcement replacement is impractical because other protected-species trees are within thirty feet of all available planting land | The city may reduce planting, with $125 payable per DBH inch of the replacement trees not planted; this is not an unrestricted choice to pay instead of planting. Section 22-20.13 |
Tree unlawfully removed but the owner demonstrates it qualified under Section 22-20.07 when removed | $100 fine per tree; eligibility does not retroactively excuse a required permit. Section 22-20.13 |
Required permit sought after work begins | $100 after-the-fact fee; the provision expressly does not authorize beginning work without the permit. Section 22-20.13 |
The Board of Adjustment may grant a variance from the subsection on unlawful removal that did not meet the removal criteria, under Article XI's standards, and may consider the county's very-low-income and low-income standards. Separately, the city must withhold required certificates of occupancy, permits or inspections until the tree article and permit conditions are satisfied. Section 22-20.13
Additional enforcement is a separate process
Dead or diseased trees found by the city to be hazards can enter Chapter 12 nuisance abatement; its alternate procedure includes notice, city abatement and a lien for costs plus its stated administrative charge. The special-master process separately provides civil fines, administrative costs and recorded liens, with foreclosure subject to its conditions; tree-specific fines are not the whole enforcement framework. Section 22-20.09 Section 12-5 Section 12-17 Section 12-20 Section 12-23
Section 1-6 supplies a general penalty only where no specific penalty is provided, and the zoning chapter separately addresses continuing violations and participation by owners, tenants, contractors, agents and other persons. These are distinct authorities, not a claim that every penalty stacks automatically in every tree case. Section 1-6 Section 22-14.01 Section 22-14.02 Section 22-14.03
What replacement trees does Gulfport require?
For ordinary permitted removal on private property, subject to the palm exemption and qualifying state-law route, the default is one approved replacement tree per removed tree, at least two inches DBH and eight feet high when planted. No replacement is required for a removed tree meeting Section 22-20.07(a), which includes the listed undesirable species as well as the other conditions in that subsection; mangroves have the separate provision discussed above. Section 22-20.08 Section 22-20.05
The following rules apply to qualifying private-property applications, including commercial and development property, rather than separate residential and commercial mitigation schedules. The $125 per-inch payment in this replacement provision was set by the same ordinance effective December 5, 2023; that date is not assigned here to the unchanged replacement size, timing or aggregation rules. Section 22-20.08 Ordinance No. 2023-12, including certification
Replacement issue | City rule |
|---|---|
More than six trees removed as part of development | Required replacements beyond six have the same stated two-inch DBH and eight-foot minimum, not a larger size tier. Section 22-20.08 |
Seasonal planting | Approved permits must allow replacement to be delayed up to six months for seasonal planting conditions. Section 22-20.08 |
Multiple applications | Applications for the same parcel within one year are treated as one for determining replacement requirements. Section 22-20.08 |
Planting impractical because other protected trees stand within thirty feet of all available planting land | The city may reduce the number planted; payment is $125 per DBH inch of the replacement trees not required to be planted, not per inch of the removed tree under this ordinary-permit formula. Section 22-20.08 |
The approved species list
Section 22-20.16 lists the following approved trees; inclusion does not decide suitability for a particular planting location. The table uses the code's common names rather than silently correcting its botanical spellings. Section 22-20.16
Group in the published list | Approved common names |
|---|---|
Native shade and canopy | Bald cypress; green buttonwood; silver buttonwood; dahoon holly; live oak; gumbo limbo; red maple; sand pine; South Florida slash pine; southern red cedar; southern magnolia; sweetbay magnolia; sweet gum; sycamore; winged elm. Section 22-20.16 |
Nonnative shade and canopy | Jacaranda; purple trumpet tree. Section 22-20.16 |
First understory and small-tree group | Chickasaw plum; dwarf southern magnolia; pond cypress; sweet acacia; upright yaupon holly; wax myrtle; weeping yaupon holly. Section 22-20.16 |
Final nonnative understory and small-tree group | European olive; golden trumpet; white geiger. Section 22-20.16 |
The first understory group is preceded by both “Approved Native Tree Species” and “Approved Non-native Species” in the published text, so this table does not invent a corrected native-status heading. The tree bank can fund purchase and maintenance of trees and related professional and consulting services, but its funds may not be used to plant on private property. Section 22-20.16 Section 22-20.14
What changes for commercial property and development projects?
Commercial, institutional, multifamily and association ownership do not create a separate ordinary tree diameter threshold, replacement rate or tree-permit price in Article XX; the application test and the qualifying state-law limits above still distinguish the routes. For development, the additional duties concern site planning, preservation, construction protection and compliance with approvals, not a blanket right to remove trees. Section 22-20.02 Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.06 Section 22-20.08 Section 22-20.09
Existing sites and approved landscape plans
If you manage an HOA common area or an existing business site, use the application test above and identify any approved landscape plan before proposing a change. The site-plan provisions require submitted landscaping information and compliance with approved plans before construction permits and occupancy, while council conditions can require a revised plan before approval becomes effective; a tree-removal permit should not be assumed to amend that separate approval. Section 22-7.03 Section 22-7.06 Section 22-7.07
The code's site-plan submission rule requires identification of the owner, any different applicant, the applicant's representative and the nature of the applicant's interest, together with the legal instruments the code requires for common facilities when applicable. A company's or association's internal authority and the city's current signer requirements should be resolved with Community Development, rather than assumed from the word “person” alone. Section 22-7.03 Section 22-20.03
Building a pool, adding onto a home, clearing or redeveloping
If you are building a pool, adding a structure, demolishing for redevelopment or improving a commercial site, the tree application's coordination requirement is determined by Section 22-20.06, while construction-protection duties apply during development or construction of structures or other improvements. A property qualifying for the residential sketch route is not thereby exempt from construction protection or separate building and land-alteration approvals. Section 22-20.06 Section 22-20.09 Section 15.5-21
Submission | What the code requires |
|---|---|
Tree site plan for the non-sketch route | Locate every tree at least six inches DBH and identify removal, replanting or retention; show roads, drives, paving, structures, utility easements and aboveground or underground lines or mains; show planned grade changes that could endanger existing or replanted trees. Section 22-20.06 |
General site-plan submission when applicable | Six copies, with a scaled certified survey, required development details, landscaping types, sizes and locations, and irrigation and maintenance provisions; common-facility arrangements are also addressed. Section 22-7.03 |
Site-plan preparation | Depending on the material, the plan can be prepared by the applicant, draftsperson, surveyor, engineer, architect or land planner; engineering and building features require sealed documents by engineers or architects “certified in the state.” Section 22-7.04 |
Commercial or multifamily building submission | Plot and construction plans prepared by an architect or engineer “duly registered within Florida”; for new buildings the survey must be by a “land surveyor or engineer licensed in Florida,” with all property stakes in place at application. Section 22-10.03 |
Clearing, filling or excavation submission when that permit applies | Ownership, contractor and hauling information, project timing and operations, survey and topography, final grading and drainage; the survey is by a “surveyor registered in the State of Florida,” and the no-adverse-effects statement by a “registered engineer in the State of Florida.” Section 15.5-22 |
The code's tree sketch and tree site-plan section does not itself specify an arborist credential for preparing those drawings; do not confuse it with the separate signed professional assessment under Florida Statute 163.045. Other permit tracks impose the credentials in the table when their own requirements apply. Section 22-20.06 Florida Statute 163.045
Site-plan approval does not dispense with other governmental permits, and required compliance with the approved plan precedes issuance of construction permits and the final occupancy determination. A single-family or duplex use can be exempt from board, redevelopment-agency and council site-plan review under Section 22-7.08, but not from the article's site-plan requirements except as expressly stated. Section 22-7.07 Section 22-7.08 Section 22-7.09
That review exemption also has an alternative route requiring all five conditions at application: a listed permitted use consistent with the comprehensive plan, no code violations, only legally established nonconforming structures or lots, no outside storage unless permitted, and no new mobile-home park. It is not an automatic commercial-property exemption. Section 22-7.08
Protecting retained trees during construction
Subject to the article's exemptions and any controlling state-law route, solvents, materials, machinery and temporary soil deposits must stay outside six feet of the trunk of a tree at least six inches DBH during development or construction. Owners or their agents must place protective barriers around retained trees of that size, and no attachments or wires other than protective guy wires may be attached to retained trees. Section 22-20.09
The code-defined wooden barrier has at least four corner uprights of at least two-inch by two-inch lumber, horizontal members of at least one-inch by two-inch lumber, and a height of three to four feet. For non-pines it extends six feet from the trunk or two-thirds of the drip line, whichever is greater; for pines it extends six feet or the full drip line, whichever is greater, so the barrier is not always just a six-foot ring. Section 22-20.03
The ordinance requires the barriers during construction or development rather than naming a universal number of days before mobilization, and its tree site plan must disclose grade changes threatening survival. No separate numerical root-pruning allowance was found in the whole-code search described below; that is not permission to damage roots or evade the intentional-killing prohibition. Section 22-20.09 Section 22-20.06
Two different inspection clocks apply: a tree found dead or dying from construction damage within three years after completion must be replaced, while a required replacement found dead or dying within three years of the city's planting inspection must also be replaced. In either case the replacement is an approved species at least two inches DBH and eight feet high, or the larger size originally required if that applied; these duties remain subject to the article's exemptions. Section 22-20.09
District landscaping and tree-preservation provisions
District design rules can add landscaping duties beyond the ordinary removal-and-replacement formula; applicability must be checked against the district and project provisions rather than assumed citywide. Section 22-6.13(b) names residential structures in the Conservation Overlay District and multistory structures in the Waterfront Redevelopment District, while subsection (d) describes its general standards and subsection (e) separately describes residential standards in both districts; ask the city to resolve the applicable subsections for the project. Section 22-6.13
Applicable design provision | Additional requirement or retention accommodation |
|---|---|
General design standards, Section 22-6.13(d), for residential structures in the Conservation Overlay District and commercial and mixed-use multistory structures in the Waterfront Redevelopment District | Twenty square feet of landscaping per 1,000 square feet of lot area, inclusive of applicable green-space or permeable-surface regulations but excluding the open-space provision in subsection (f)(3)c when that feature is used. Section 22-6.13 |
Street trees under Section 22-6.13(d)(3), where street trees are present in the block | At least one per fifty linear feet of street frontage, potentially in the right-of-way, ordinarily at least four inches DBH and eight feet high and the same type as other street trees along the block face; if minimum stock is unavailable the city may accept the largest available size and height, and no additional trees are needed if existing mature street canopy meets the stated requirements. Alternative species can address overhead-utility conflicts, and spacing is adjusted to provide mature canopy cover. Section 22-6.13 |
New residential structures under Section 22-6.13(e)(2) | At least two canopy trees per site, with at least one in the front yard, ordinarily four inches DBH and eight feet high; existing canopy and street-canopy trees count, with location adjustments for existing trees. Section 22-6.13 |
Mature-canopy accommodation for new structures under Section 22-6.13(d)(3) | Side and rear setback encroachment up to twenty-five percent to accommodate mature canopy without a variance. Section 22-6.13 |
The general design standards also require a minimum three-foot-wide foundation planting area of understory vegetation along all facades, excluding driveway areas, and allow it to count toward landscaping. Mobile-home parks and certain parking areas have separate landscape-buffer or screening provisions; these are additional project checks, not replacements for Article XX. Section 22-6.13 Section 22-6.05 Section 22-6.06
The parking rule's potential reduction to protect trees still references Chapter 23.5, which is not a current chapter in the supplied codified edition; ask the city how it applies that outdated cross-reference. Do not convert it into an automatic parking waiver or a different tree-permit standard. Section 22-6.06
Clearing, fill and excavation are a separate permit check
Chapter 15.5 generally requires a city permit and council public hearing for digging borrow areas, filling or clearing land, subject to its listed private-property exceptions. Those include utility installation; drainage ditches or canals whose locations and sizes are approved by both council and the city engineer, with no excavated material removed from the tract; accessory excavations designed to be refilled; pools with a construction permit; subdivision or planned-unit-development earthwork approved by council; and similar council-approved uses where no excavated material leaves the tract. Section 15.5-21
Where that permit is required, applicable other permits, including a city tree-removal permit, must be obtained before the land-alteration public hearing. The land-alteration application fee is set by the city manager under the code rather than a dollar figure stated in that section. Section 15.5-28 Section 15.5-23
Development fees and contractor checks
The following are building or zoning service charges in the city's published Resolution No. 2024-45, effective October 1, 2024; they are not a replacement for the ordinary tree-permit fee rule above. The city should identify which services and additional consulting charges actually apply to the project. Gulfport Resolution No. 2024-45
Separately applicable service | Published charge |
|---|---|
Site-plan review | |
Appeal of administrative decision | |
Variance | |
Variance appeal | |
Required building-plan review | One-half of the permit fee, payable at application and nonrefundable. Gulfport Resolution No. 2024-45 |
Revision or alteration of approved plans | $77 through $1,000 of valuation, plus $13 per additional $1,000 of additional valuation after the first $1,000. Gulfport Resolution No. 2024-45 |
For a construction bid, ask which permit numbers, approved plans and signer authorizations govern the work, rather than accepting “tree permit included” as a complete answer. The city code addresses contractor credentials, while the city's current contractor page requires city registration, credential information and insurance documentation for its contractor permitting workflow; this is not evidence that every tree-care activity requires the same building-contractor credential. Section 13-28 Section 13-28.1 Gulfport contractor instructions
The contractor page requests a certificate of insurance and workers' compensation coverage or an exemption, and explains that state-certified contractors no longer register with the county construction licensing board under the change effective June 24, 2024, while city registration remains part of its portal process. The city's contractor authorization form is a notarized authorization for an agent to obtain and sign permits under the contractor's credential, not a blanket substitute for an association's authority to act. Gulfport contractor instructions Gulfport contractor authorization form
The owner and participating contractors or agents can each face zoning enforcement for their own participation, and the chief building official can order unlawful work discontinued. For permitted land hauling, contractors, subcontractors, truckers and agents must have a copy of the land-alteration permit before hauling; that permit can be suspended or revoked under its stated procedures, with a distinct emergency suspension process. Section 22-14.02 Section 22-10.01 Section 15.5-31 Section 15.5-32 Section 15.5-33 Section 15.5-34
The refuse code makes contractors and companies responsible for arranging or performing removal of work residue; its yard-waste rule assigns less than two cubic yards to scheduled solid-waste collection and more than two cubic yards to the person doing the work, leaving the exact two-cubic-yard boundary unstated. Construction sites separately require a dumpster or another method acceptable to the city, and unsanitary sites can be suspended or red-tagged; have the city resolve disposal arrangements rather than assuming all job debris belongs in routine collection. Section 11-25
Variances and appeals
The tree article allows Board of Adjustment variances under Article XI, whose standards require special property conditions not created by the applicant, no special privilege, qualifying hardship, the minimum necessary relief and consistency with the code's purpose. A variance is not advance assurance of removal approval, and the board's limits and conditions still apply. Section 22-20.12 Section 22-11.03 Section 22-11.04
Decision or process | Codified timing and limits |
|---|---|
Appeal alleging error in a chief building official decision | File with that official within sixty days after written notification, using the required form, fee, certified survey and proof of ownership; no such appeal lies from an act specifically directed by a Board of Adjustment order or resolution. Proceedings are generally stayed unless the imminent-peril certification exception applies, with the stated restraining-order route. Section 22-10.05 |
Board of Adjustment decision | Due within sixty days after the hearing closes; judicial review is available within thirty calendar days of the order. Section 22-11.06 Section 22-11.10 |
Board reconsideration or rehearing | Generally unavailable within twelve months absent the substantial-change conditions specified in the code. Section 22-11.09 |
Special-master enforcement order | Circuit-court appeal within thirty days of issuance, under the section's review procedure. Section 12-24 |
Council decision under the land-alteration article | Rehearing request within thirty days of the council's decision; if rehearing is denied, other remedies under general law remain. For a designated representative's decision, the section instead allows a request for a council hearing without specifying that thirty-day limit. Section 15.5-35 |
How do you apply and contact the city?
Start with Gulfport's Community Development Department, which the tree ordinance names as the application office; its permit phone is 727-893-1024. Use the following steps to establish the correct submission and review route rather than assuming an application will be approved. Section 22-20.06 Gulfport Community Development
Confirm the parcel. Use Pinellas County My Neighborhood to identify municipal location, then ask the city to resolve any boundary uncertainty; a Gulfport mailing address alone should not be used as the jurisdiction decision.
Identify the tree and governing route. Tell Community Development whether the question concerns private land, a public right-of-way, mangroves, a required replacement, construction or a possible state-law documentation route; use the conditions in the relevant sections above.
Prepare the applicable sketch or site plan. Include the information required for that route and any separate development submissions; ask the department which application form and intake category it wants for the specific tree matter. Section 22-20.06 Section 22-7.03
Use the correct submission channel. The city directs owner-builders to apply in person and says their online access is for payment and inspections after issuance; registered contractors can apply, track status and schedule through the city's online permit portal, with activation instructions and a city-issued PIN. Do not assume every tree applicant qualifies for the contractor workflow. Gulfport owner-builder instructions Gulfport contractor instructions
Keep the decision and conditions with the project. A tree denial must give the specific basis in writing; follow the applicable review or appeal route rather than beginning work while approval remains unresolved. Section 22-20.07
The 2026 city permit application prints the Public Services address as 5330 23rd Avenue South, Gulfport, FL 33707-5161, while the department webpage prints “5330 23rd Street South” and describes the corner of 54th Street South and 23rd Avenue South. Confirm the location by phone before visiting because those published address lines disagree. Gulfport 2026 permit application Gulfport Community Development
The city lists gpreview@mygulfport.us for additional documents on active permit reviews, inspections@mygulfport.us for inspection requests, and gpcontractors@mygulfport.us for contractor registration; these are purpose-specific contacts, not a verified general tree-application mailbox. For planning and zoning, the department lists 727-893-1087 or 727-893-1023. Gulfport Community Development Gulfport contractor instructions
What if the tree is in a right-of-way, park or utility easement?
Gulfport requires a city permit before a person plants or removes any tree on public property, including streets, parkways and rights-of-way; the private-property size threshold and palm exemption do not replace this rule. Applications go to Community Development, and the code separately prohibits injury or destruction of public trees. Section 22-20.10 Section 22-20.04
The city reserves its own authority to remove trees in city rights-of-way or on other city property without cause, permit or notice under that section. Sections 17-5 and 17-6 also regulate park and parkway vegetation and planting in rights-of-way or utility easements: the latter requires written permission for planting other than lawn grasses or flowers and specifically prohibits Australian pine and punk trees there. Section 22-20.10 Section 17-5 Section 17-6
A utility provider's trimming program covering at least one linear city block in thirty days requires a no-fee permit with the proposed area and approximate schedule, except for the stated emergencies such as hurricanes, windstorms, floods, freezes or other disasters. The city may deny excessive or unnecessary trimming in part and must act on a completed application within thirty days; the permission concerns trees and limbs endangering utility operation, not an unrestricted cutting program. Section 22-20.10
Where do the code and published guidance need care?
The code text, adopted amendments, state law and administrative instructions perform different roles; a web form or general fee table should not be read as silently changing the tree ordinance. The specific discrepancies documented here are the ordinary no-fee/tree-bank wording, botanical names and species-list heading, the 2023 ordinance's effective-date history, the mangrove permitting conflict and the department's address. Section 22-20.05 Section 22-20.14 Section 22-20.16 Ordinance No. 2023-12, including certification Florida Statute 403.9324 Gulfport Community Development Gulfport 2026 permit application
The city's permit-exemptions page addresses building-permit exemptions associated with HB 803, effective July 1, 2026; it is not a published explanation of the tree-documentation test in Florida Statute 163.045. Keep that building guidance separate from the state tree route set out above. Gulfport building-permit exemptions Florida Statute 163.045
What does the Gulfport code not specify?
A whole-code search of the October 2, 2026 export found no reference to “163.045”; the tree article instead says it applies to all real property in the corporate limits. That absence does not erase the state statute or decide its application to an individual parcel. Section 22-20.02 Florida Statute 163.045
The same whole-code review did not locate a tree-specific numerical root-pruning allowance or a universal standalone landscape-plan-amendment procedure triggered by every tree removal. Site-plan revision and compliance provisions do exist, so ask Community Development how an existing approval must be handled rather than treating either search result as permission to proceed. Section 22-7.06 Section 22-7.07 Section 22-20.09
What was searched but not found
On October 2, 2026, the review searched the full code, city Tree City and Community Development pages, official-domain results, and available post-September 3, 2025 council agendas and minutes for historic or specimen tree designations and a city-specific Section 163.045 notice. No specific tree-designation resolution or city tree-statute notice was located in that search; it was not an exhaustive search of every historic city, county or state resolution, and it does not establish that no designation exists. Section 22-20.03 Gulfport Tree City page Gulfport Community Development Gulfport council records
Sources, jurisdiction and review scope
This guide uses Gulfport's Code of Ordinances, Supplement 81, through Ordinance No. 2025-08, together with the linked state authorities and city administrative materials checked October 2, 2026. The code's older history entries do not consistently establish original effective dates; the 2023 tree amendment and the 2024 fee resolution have separately verified effective dates as identified above. Gulfport Code of Ordinances Ordinance No. 2023-12, including certification Gulfport Resolution No. 2024-45
The two newer ordinances listed by Municode were No. 2026-01, adopted February 17, 2026, concerning certified recovery residences, and No. 2025-12, adopted December 2, 2025, submitting charter amendments to voters. Neither amends Article XX, tree fees or the public-tree rules; review also covered available city council agendas after the codification cutoff through September 15, 2026, and available minutes through September 3, 2026, without locating another enacted amendment to those tree provisions. Ordinance No. 2026-01 Ordinance No. 2025-12 Gulfport council records
For a different jurisdiction, the unincorporated Pinellas tree-permit article and St. Petersburg tree-permit article are related reading, not sources for Gulfport's rules. Use Pinellas County My Neighborhood and the responsible government to resolve location before applying a city's rules.
Where does this leave your tree or project?
A tree may be a candidate for an application, an exemption analysis or a different regulatory route, but this reference does not decide the status of your particular tree or property. Take property-specific plans and permit questions to Gulfport Community Development; mangrove authorization questions belong with Pinellas County's delegated program at 727-453-3385. Gulfport Community Development FDEP delegated mangrove programs
Ken's Tree Service has worked since 1996 from Tarpon Springs, across approximately 20 miles covering north Pinellas County, west Pasco County and the northwest corner of Hillsborough County. Gulfport is outside that service area, and this guide is a regional resource rather than an offer to perform work there; for projects within our service area, our number is 727-934-5804.
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