St. Pete Beach Tree Removal Permits and Tree Protection
Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Next review due April 2, 2027. By Forest, Property Intelligence Specialist, Ken's Tree Service.
Do you need a tree removal permit in St. Pete Beach?
St. Pete Beach calls it a tree removal permit: subject to the qualifying state-law route and mangrove rules below, the city requires approval before removing a tree or palm that meets its protection threshold. (Sections 22.11 and 22.14, application provision) The practical route is to establish the jurisdiction and applicable exceptions, submit the city's tree application and site diagram when required, and wait for approval before work. (City tree removal application)
This is a regional reference, not an offer of tree work in St. Pete Beach. For the jurisdiction starting point, see our Pinellas County city-or-county permit guide.
What does the ordinance protect?
Division 22 makes removal of protected trees a permit-reviewed decision, subject to state preemption and the separate mangrove rules, rather than an automatic approval for paying a fee. (Section 22.11, section 22.12(d), section 22.14(a)) The city manager's review considers the following six subjects; their presence is not a promise that a particular application will be approved. (Section 22.12(d))
Condition and conflicts: Health, likelihood of falling, proximity to structures, and interference with utility services. (Section 22.12(d)(1))
Reasonable use: Whether removal is necessary to make reasonable economic improvements to the property. (Section 22.12(d)(2))
Historic or specimen significance: Type, size, age or community association giving a tree notable historic or high value to the city. (Section 22.12(d)(3))
Environmental functions: Ecological value, noise reduction and wildlife habitat. (Section 22.12(d)(4))
Design alternatives: Whether changes to the proposed improvements would allow preservation. (Section 22.12(d)(5))
Invasive status: Whether the tree falls within the referenced Category I invasive list. (Section 22.12(d)(6))
Which trees and palms meet the removal threshold?
Subject to state preemption and the separate mangrove regime below, section 22.11 prohibits removal without a permit of “any tree having a DBH of three inches or more” or “any palm with a height of eight feet or more overall”. (Section 22.11) The palm rule covers every palm species, not only cabbage or sabal palms, and uses an inclusive overall-height threshold rather than clear trunk height, subject to those same qualifications. (Section 22.11)
Dead trees are not expressly excluded from that removal rule; the city's form instead describes a no-fee application for dead trees, subject to the state-law route where it actually applies. (Section 22.11, city application guidelines) A duty to address an unsafe tree is not itself permission to bypass the applicable removal process. (Sections 22.12(g) and 22.14(a), permit requirements)
How is a tree measured?
For single- and multiple-trunk trees, the code places DBH at four and one-half feet above grade. (Section 22.11) If a circumference measurement is available at that height, dividing it by 3.14 gives an approximate diameter; this is an arithmetic aid, not an additional measurement rule written into the city code.
The code's DBH paragraph does not specify how to combine multiple stems, so a sum, largest-stem method or equivalent-diameter formula should not be presented as the city's method. (Section 22.11) Ask Public Services to confirm the measurement it needs for that tree rather than substituting a neighboring city's formula. (Public Services)
Which exceptions change the answer?
The principal separate paths are qualifying residential work under Florida Statute 163.045 and mangrove regulation; the city form's fee waivers do not create a general no-permit exception for dead or invasive trees. (Section 22.14(a), section 22.12(a), city application guidelines) District-specific landscaping relief, including the Eighth Avenue provision discussed below, must also be distinguished from exemption from the tree-removal rule. (Section 40.12, section 22.11)
Mangroves follow a different regulatory path
Section 22.12(a) directs mangrove removal to Florida Statutes 403.9321 through 403.9333, while the delegated program also governs regulated mangrove trimming and alteration. (Section 22.12(a), Pinellas County mangroves) FDEP identifies Pinellas County as a delegated mangrove authority, and the county describes its mangrove program as countywide, so the county's mangrove program is the contact for St. Pete Beach mangrove questions rather than assuming that ordinary city tree approval settles them. (FDEP delegation directory, Pinellas County natural resources element)
Contact the Pinellas County mangrove program at 727-453-3385 for the applicable exemption or permit determination; its guidance distinguishes exempt trimming from work requiring authorization. (Pinellas County mangroves) The residential state-law route below does not apply to mangrove protection actions under the delegated program. (Florida Statute 163.045(4))
Is pruning different from removal?
Division 22 requires no permit for ordinary pruning of a tree on private property, but topping is prohibited and mangroves, right-of-way work and approved landscape-plan obligations remain subject to their separate controls. (Section 22.10(d), section 22.11, section 22.12(a), section 5.1(f), city right-of-way application) Lawful pruning must follow ANSI A300, and a removal permit does not authorize topping a retained tree. (Section 22.10(d))
Topping is expressly treated as a violation of section 22.11 and can expose the responsible parties to code enforcement, not simply a request for a pruning permit. (Section 22.10(d), section 22-276) The separate enforcement remedies and their conditions are set out below. (Section 22-279)
Are invasive or nuisance trees exempt?
The code identifies nuisance trees for preservation-credit purposes and Category I invasives as a removal-review factor; neither provision says that every listed tree can be removed without a permit. (Section 22.4(d), section 22.12(d)(6)) Subject to state preemption, the city's administrative guidelines say a Category I tree still needs a permit for species verification, while waiving its permit fee and replacement requirement. (City application guidelines)
The following are the six named nuisance trees in the code; the preservation-credit exclusion also reaches any tree on its referenced pest-plant list. (Section 22.4(d))
Code's common name | Botanical name printed in the code |
|---|---|
Punk tree | Malalueca quinquenervia. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Brazilian pepper | Schinus terebinthifolius. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Australian pine | Casuarina spp. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Carrotwood | Cupaniopsis anacardioides. (Section 22.4(d)) |
China berry | Melia azedarack. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Chinese tallow | Sapium sebiferum. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Those spellings are reproduced to identify the law's wording, not to modernize its taxonomy. (Section 22.4(d)) The former Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council is now the Florida Invasive Species Council; its current posted list is dated April 2026 and uses names including Melaleuca quinquenervia, Melia azedarach and Triadica sebifera. (Council background, April 2026 plant list)
The approval paragraph has its own spelling defects, including “Casaurina spp.” and “Cupianopsis anacardioides”; the council's current list uses Casuarina and Cupaniopsis anacardioides, respectively. (Section 22.12(d)(6), April 2026 plant list) Its Brazilian-pepper entry prints “Schinus terebinthefolius”, while the current list prints Schinus terebinthifolia. (Section 22.12(d)(6), April 2026 plant list)
Do not equate the entire nuisance list with Category I: the current list places chinaberry in Category II and distinguishes species within Casuarina. (April 2026 plant list) The city form's nuisance-list heading says no removal-permit fee and includes chinaberry, Cuban laurel and woman's tongue, while its administrative fee-waiver paragraph names transplanted, dead and Category I trees, and its no-replacement statement specifically addresses Category I. (City application guidelines)
The form's broader nuisance heading and narrower category-based wording should not be silently combined into a promise of fee or replacement exemption for every nuisance species. (City application guidelines) Ask the city to confirm the species classification and treatment on the application. (City application guidelines)
Who can apply for a tree permit?
The city accepts applications from property owners or authorized agents and asks for proof of agent authorization at application. (City application guidelines) If you manage an association, commercial property or institutional site, use the entity's owner authorization rather than treating a resident's request as authority over common-area trees; site-plan applications may be made by owners, persons with a contractual interest or their authorized agents. (Section 5.1(a), city application guidelines)
The tree form requires site, owner, diagram, acknowledgment, signature, contractor and email information, and its guidelines require contractors to be registered with the city and familiar with tree regulations. (City tree application) Registration is a checkable item when screening a proposal; it is not evidence that a particular tree qualifies for removal. (City application guidelines, section 22.12(d))
When does Florida Statute 163.045 replace the local process?
Florida Statute 163.045 preempts local notice, application, approval, permit, fee and mitigation requirements for pruning, trimming or removal on qualifying residential property only when the owner possesses the required documentation of unacceptable risk, and it does not apply to delegated mangrove protection. (Florida Statute 163.045) Its current eligibility language became effective July 1, 2022. (Florida Senate HB 1555 history)
All of these conditions belong together:
Residential property: A single-family detached building on a lot actively used for single-family residential purposes that is either conforming or legally recognized nonconforming under local law. (Section 163.045(1)(b))
Documentation: An onsite assessment performed in accordance with the tree risk assessment procedures in Best Management Practices: Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017), by an arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture or “a Florida licensed landscape architect”, signed by that professional. (Section 163.045(1)(a))
Risk test: The documentation must establish unacceptable risk to persons or property; the statute says that exists if removal is the only practical means of mitigating risk below moderate, as determined by the prescribed procedures. (Section 163.045(2))
Possession and replacement: The property owner must possess that documentation, and a local government cannot require replanting of a tree pruned, trimmed or removed in accordance with the section. (Section 163.045(2) and (3))
These are the statute's professional requirements, not Ken's Tree Service credentials. Deadness, disease, storm damage or an owner's preference alone does not substitute for the statute's property, documentation and risk tests. (Florida Statute 163.045)
A commercial parcel, apartment site, institutional property or HOA common area does not become qualifying single-family residential property merely because people live nearby or an arborist assesses its trees. (Section 163.045(1)(b)) This St. Pete Beach resource does not offer an assessment or documentation service.
What can happen after unauthorized removal or a hazardous-tree violation?
For removal that requires a local permit, section 22.14(b) sets the unpermitted-removal penalty at twice the permit cost or $100, whichever is greater; the fee schedule's $100 line is not a universal ceiling. (Section 22.14(b), Appendix A) The current permit language and fee schedule appear in Ordinance 2019-18, effective upon its December 10, 2019 adoption. (Ordinance 2019-18)
Separate special-magistrate enforcement can impose up to $250 per day for a first violation, up to $500 per day for a repeat violation, and, after the required finding and process, up to $5,000 per irreparable or irreversible violation; these are not automatic charges for every tree removal. (Sections 22-274 and 22-279, administrative fines provision) Ordinance 2012-02 adopted those enforcement provisions with immediate effect on January 24, 2012. (Ordinance 2012-02)
Recorded orders can become liens against the affected land and other property owned by the violator, subject to the notice and challenge procedures; section 22-279 allows foreclosure after three months unpaid but excludes foreclosure under that article on constitutional homestead property. (Section 22-279) Separately, the general penalty provision allows a fine up to $500, imprisonment up to 60 days, or both upon conviction where no specific penalty is provided, so it should not be represented as the ordinary tree-permit fee or automatically added to it. (Section 1-14)
Hazardous and obstructing trees
Keeping an injured or damaged tree that poses a hazard to life, limb or adjacent property is unlawful under section 22.12(g). (Section 22.12(g)) Section 98-66(b)(22) also prohibits dead, dying, damaged or diseased trees and trees or vegetation that obstruct public ways or fire hydrants or create the specified public hazards. (Section 98-66(b)(22))
A finding by a registered forester or certified arborist employed by the city that a tree is in danger of falling on an adjacent lot or street because of death, disease or damage is prima facie evidence of the property-maintenance violation, not wording that makes every prohibition depend on that finding first. (Section 98-66(b)(22)) These duties remain distinct from the removal authorization and state-law conditions discussed above. (Section 22.14, Florida Statute 163.045)
Following the applicable notice and abatement procedures, the city can arrange work at the owner's expense and recover costs by lien; tree trimming and removal do not require a special-magistrate hearing unless the owner requests one. (Sections 46-61 and 46-63, abatement provision) Appendix A lists a $200 nuisance-abatement administrative fee in addition to actual city costs, with charge categories addressed in section 46-65. (Appendix A, section 46-65)
What replacement trees does the city require?
For removals other than the code's new-development track, section 22.12(e) requires planting within six months of permit issuance, with native trees replacing removed native trees; qualifying state-law work is exempt from local replanting, and the city's Category I administrative guidance is a separate qualification described above. (Section 22.12(e), Florida Statute 163.045(3), city application guidelines)
Removed tree in the ordinary, non-new-development track | Replacement rule, subject to the preceding exceptions |
|---|---|
Four inches DBH or less | One replacement for one removed. (Section 22.12(e)) |
More than four inches DBH | Two replacements for one removed. (Section 22.12(e)) |
Single-family or two-family lot | No replacement under this paragraph if the total trees remaining meet its referenced minimum; the code misdirects that reference to section 22.4, while the dwelling lot-count table is in section 22.5. (Section 22.12(e), section 22.4, section 22.5) |
New development | Comply with the landscaping requirements rather than treating this ordinary-removal ratio as the full site obligation. (Section 22.12(e)) |
The city form makes the owner responsible for contacting the Parks Division for replacement inspection. (City application guidelines) Because the code's ordinary replacement ratios are expressed in DBH rather than a separate palm-height ratio, obtain the city's written palm replacement determination instead of inventing an equivalency. (Section 22.12(e))
Single-family and two-family lot minimums
For newly constructed or substantially improved single-family and two-family dwellings, the following minimums apply before a certificate of occupancy, subject to any applicable district provision and approved relief. (Section 22.5, section 40.12, section 3.12) Existing trees can receive preservation credit under section 22.4(d), rather than automatically counting every trunk one-for-one. (Section 22.5, section 22.4(d))
Lot area in square feet | Minimum trees |
|---|---|
3,500 to 6,000 | 2. (Section 22.5) |
6,001 to 7,500 | 3. (Section 22.5) |
7,501 to 10,000 | 4. (Section 22.5) |
10,001 to 16,000 | 6. (Section 22.5) |
Over 16,000 | 8. (Section 22.5) |
The table publishes no row below 3,500 square feet, and its whole-number bands do not resolve fractional boundary values; ask the city to determine those cases rather than extending the table yourself. (Section 22.5) The remaining lot landscaping must also meet the subsection's requirements, so a tree count is not the entire landscape standard. (Section 22.5)
Preservation credits and planting sizes
Healthy existing canopy trees retained on site receive the following credits, excluding nuisance trees and trees on the referenced pest-plant list. (Section 22.4(d)) The shared ten-inch endpoint is printed in both bands and needs a city determination at that exact size. (Section 22.4(d))
Existing vegetation retained | Credit |
|---|---|
Canopy tree, four to ten inches DBH | 1 tree. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Canopy tree, ten to twenty inches DBH | 2 trees. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Canopy tree, over twenty inches DBH | 3 trees. (Section 22.4(d)) |
Existing native palms | 3 palms to 1 tree. (Section 22.4(d)) |
A maximum ten-percent required-parking credit may be allowed to preserve native trees; it is discretionary rather than an automatic discount. (Section 22.4(d)(3)) Plant materials must meet “Florida No. 1 or better” under the nursery standards incorporated by section 22.4(a), or equal. (Section 22.4(a))
New planting | Operative minimum or equivalency |
|---|---|
Canopy tree | Twelve feet high and three inches DBH at planting. (Section 22.4(c)(1)) |
Large palms in the subsection's list, or its equivalent-mature-size category | One palm equals one required canopy tree at twelve feet of clear trunk, subject to plant eligibility. (Section 22.4(c)(2)) |
Smaller palms in the subsection's list, or its equivalent-mature-size category | Three palms equal one required canopy tree at eight feet of clear trunk, subject to plant eligibility. (Section 22.4(c)(3)) |
Accent or understory tree | Eight feet overall height and two inches DBH at planting. (Section 22.4(c)(5)) |
The general species standard is an average mature crown greater than fifteen feet and a trunk maintainable branch-free from grade to five feet; smaller-crowned trees may be grouped to provide the equivalent fifteen-foot crown. (Section 22.4(c)) Required canopy trees may be replaced with understory trees where their mature height would conflict with overhead power lines, excluding service drops, with the referenced FPL right-tree/right-place setbacks. (Section 22.4(c)(4))
Planting equivalencies do not override section 22.4(b), which denies required-landscaping credit to any plant on the referenced pest-plant list. (Section 22.4(b)) That matters because some recommended palms in the code, including coconut, queen and Washingtonia robusta, appear on the current FISC Category II list; secure the city's accepted species list rather than treating the older recommendations as unconditional eligibility. (Section 22.4(c), April 2026 plant list)
What changes for an existing commercial, multifamily or HOA property?
If you manage a commercial parcel, apartment property, HOA common area or institutional site, the city removal provisions still apply to any person and do not create a separate larger tree threshold for that ownership or use. (Sections 22.11 and 22.14, permit application provision) The qualifying single-family state-law route cannot be extended to those property types, and ordinary removal replacement is not the same as the requirements for new development. (Florida Statute 163.045, section 22.12(e))
Appendix A's tree-permit lines are not divided into residential and nonresidential rates; the fee conflict explained below therefore matters for both. (Appendix A) Existing approved landscape plans matter too: the owner, tenant and agent are jointly and severally responsible for required-landscape maintenance, and the minor-site-plan-change exception does not authorize reducing or changing previously required landscaping. (Section 22.3(d), section 5.1(f))
If removal changes an approved plan, the city must determine the applicable plan-modification approval under section 5.1 rather than assuming a tree permit alone amends that plan. (Section 5.1(f) and (g)) Company or association applications follow the owner and agent rules above; building submissions separately require the owner's signature, and the city's commercial-building instructions require a notarized owner signature. (City permits and forms, Building and Permitting)
What triggers the development and construction track?
If you are building, redeveloping, adding a pool, changing a use, demolishing or clearing a site, tree approval must be considered alongside the development approvals applicable to the actual project; a tree permit is not a general development authorization. (Sections 3.5 and 5.4, site-plan effect, section 22.12(c)) The definition of development includes excavation or alteration of elevations as well as building and changes in the use or appearance of land or structures. (Section 2.1, development definition)
All new construction other than the single-family and two-family dwellings addressed by section 22.5 needs approved site and landscape plans before a building permit. (Section 22.3(a)) For a single-family demolition, the city's checklist specifically requires Public Services tree approval before the demolition permit, a site plan locating private and right-of-way trees, and upload of the approved tree permit to the demolition application. (Single-family demolition checklist)
Section 22.6 requires new multifamily and nonresidential development, substantial improvements to those existing developments, and changes of use to meet its full-landscaping requirements; the substantial-improvement work must comply before the certificate of occupancy. (Section 22.6(a), (b) and (c)) The general substantial-improvement definition uses fifty percent of the structure's pre-improvement market value, includes substantial damage, and excludes the specified minimum health-and-safety corrections and qualifying historic alterations; floodplain provisions have their own definitional context. (Section 2.1, substantial improvement and market value)
An addition that is not a substantial improvement on a noncompliant multifamily or nonresidential lot triggers one square foot of landscaping for each square foot of added building area. (Section 22.6(b)) Where no buildings are constructed, the same subsection publishes a different renovation-cost schedule. (Section 22.6(b))
Renovation cost as printed | Amount expended for new landscaping |
|---|---|
$1,001 to $10,000 | 25 percent. (Section 22.6(b)) |
$10,001 to $25,000 | 20 percent. (Section 22.6(b)) |
$25,001 to $100,000 | 15 percent. (Section 22.6(b)) |
Over $100,001 | 10 percent. (Section 22.6(b)) |
The last row literally says over $100,001, leaving exactly $100,001 unassigned, and the table also does not assign every lower or fractional boundary value. (Section 22.6(b)) If landscaping cannot be placed on site in a way that permits proper maintenance, the city may approve placement in the public right-of-way; only where that is impractical does this provision permit the table-based payment for city landscaping elsewhere, not a general per-tree fee-in-lieu buyout. (Section 22.6(b))
What plans and tree protection are required during construction?
Development or redevelopment applications must include the applicable tree statement and plans: if there are no trees at least three inches DBH, section 22.12(c) calls for a notarized statement; if trees will be removed or relocated, it calls for a replacement or relocation plan; trees retained require a protection plan. (Section 22.12(c)) That DBH-based statement does not cancel the separate protected-palm removal trigger. (Section 22.11)
Site-plan submissions include the ownership, survey, existing-condition, proposed-development and landscape material specified in section 5.1(b); the boundary survey calls for a “registered land surveyor” and an ALTA/ACSM survey within twelve months. (Section 5.1(b)(11), (12) and (22)) Use that subsection for the full submission and any additional project-specific professional requirements. (Section 5.1(b))
The ordinary Division 22 tree-plan paragraphs do not specify an ISA credential for every landscape or protection plan, whereas particular applications below impose their own professional requirements. (Section 22.12(c), section 131-5) Those distinct requirements should be checked against the actual application rather than combined into an invented universal credential.
Preservation and construction controls
The property owner is responsible for protective guards or barriers necessary to protect existing and newly installed vegetation during construction; where a grade change is planned, retained trees must be protected by a wall preserving the existing grade for their roots, and stripped topsoil must be preserved for new landscaping. (Section 22.9) Existing large trees and other natural features also enter the site-plan review criteria, and a cleared site where construction ceases must regain vegetation or other city-approved soil-stabilizing treatment. (Section 5.2, section 22.3(g))
For exterior commercial or multifamily work requiring a building permit, section 98-70 requires an approved construction-management plan before the permit; it separately addresses the contractor designated for clearing, grading, stockpiling, demolition and construction. (Section 98-70(a) and (b)) The provision uses the credential “licensed contractor”, not an arborist credential, and makes the plan's applicable grading, drainage, access, storage, fencing and other construction controls part of that process. (Section 98-70)
When section 98-70(g) requires construction fencing, it must be installed before construction activity or material deliveries; that subsection supplies the activity-specific placement, height and exception rules. (Section 98-70(g)(1) through (6)) Construction and sediment fencing do not replace the separate tree-protection barriers required by section 22.9. (Section 98-70(d) and (g), section 22.9(a))
The contractor must install and maintain required sediment controls unless the provision's waiver applies, stabilize the site and restore damage to neighboring landscaping at the contractor's expense. (Section 98-70) Division 22 does not supply a universal numeric tree-barricade radius or root-pruning specification; the specialized wireless radius below must not be applied to every construction site. (Section 22.9, section 131-5(a)(11))
Specialized wireless work is not the ordinary tree-permit standard
For the private-property wireless applications governed by Chapter 131, the application must identify trees to be removed, and a small-cell installation within a tree canopy or a twenty-foot radius of its base requires a city-approved tree-protection plan prepared by a “certified arborist”; a larger radius may be required depending on site-specific criteria. (Section 131-5(a)(11)) Section 131-10(i) separately uses “licensed arborist” for the permittee's replacement-tree selection, planting and maintenance obligations and requires restoration of displaced or damaged landscaping, with replacement trees substantially the same size unless the city approves otherwise. (Section 131-10(i))
Those are the code's different terms; neither should be rewritten as a universal ISA requirement for every tree contractor or represented as Ken's Tree Service credentials. (Sections 131-5 and 131-10, permit conditions) Communications facilities in public rights-of-way instead have their own Chapter 132 provisions. (Chapter 132 permit requirements)
How do development landscaping, buffers and district rules fit together?
Development-site replacement is governed by the approved landscaping requirements, not solely by the ordinary-removal ratios, and approved landscaping must be installed before the certificate of occupancy. (Sections 22.12(e) and 22.3(c), installation requirement) Category I exotic plants must be removed before that certificate under section 22.3(c), subject to the applicable removal authorization. (Section 22.3(c), section 22.14)
Site standards
The following section 22.7 standards operate alongside the applicable zoning district, site plan and buffer requirements; they are not interchangeable ways to meet a single tree count. (Section 22.7)
Site component | Division 22 standard and qualification |
|---|---|
Street frontage | Except RU-1, RU-2 and RLM-1, a landscaped strip as deep as ten percent of the abutting right-of-way width across the frontage, apart from necessary driveway and walkway crossings, with one tree per 180 square feet or fraction. (Section 22.7(a)) |
Vehicular-use perimeter | Unless the frontage rule applies or buildings completely screen the area, a six-foot strip, one tree per thirty linear feet or fraction and a two-foot hedge, subject to an otherwise approved site plan. (Section 22.7(b)) |
Interior vehicle areas | Twenty square feet of interior landscaping per parking space other than spaces abutting perimeter landscaping, plus two square feet per 100 square feet or fraction of other vehicular-use area; for mixed areas, multiply parking-space count by 300 and subtract that from total paved square footage to separate the other vehicular-use area. (Section 22.7(c)) |
Interior islands | Ordinarily at least 400 square feet and ten feet in minimum dimension; the code provides its stated exceptions, including shifting interior landscaping for parking areas with fewer than twenty spaces. (Section 22.7(c)) |
Interior planting | At least one tree in each landscaped area and one tree per 100 square feet or fraction in total; relief where vehicle use is seriously limited adds perimeter landscaping rather than replacing the ordinary perimeter obligation. (Section 22.7(c)) |
Pedestrian walkways | An average of one shade tree per fifty linear feet unless adjacent to or included in a compliant frontage or buffer planting. (Section 22.7(d)) |
Separate additional landscaped areas | One shade tree per 200 square feet. (Section 22.7(d)) |
Nonvegetative pervious material is ordinarily limited to twenty percent of the minimum required pervious area, with an administrative innovative-design increase possible under the stated stormwater, irrigation or canopy criteria; construction exceeding ten percent of zoning-lot area or an undue-hardship or practical-difficulty variance triggers full compliance with that subsection. (Section 22.4(f)) Required shrubs start at two feet and hedges must form an unbroken screen within one year; these are additional landscape requirements, not substitutes for trees. (Section 22.4(e))
Buffers
Section 22.8 requires landscaped separation for the specified transient-accommodation and nonresidential relationships with residential or institutional property, with buffer size and nature determined through the site-plan process. (Section 22.8(a)) Its use-pair table assigns the following buffer types; the illustrated planting alternatives follow that table. (Section 22.8(d))
Adjacent uses | Required type |
|---|---|
Commercial beside single-family or two-family | C. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Transient accommodation beside single-family or two-family | C. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Mixed use beside single-family or two-family | B. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Commercial beside mixed use containing residential | B. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Multifamily beside single-family or two-family | B. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Commercial beside commercial | A. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Commercial beside transient accommodation | B. (Section 22.8(d)) |
Multifamily beside multifamily | A. (Section 22.8(d)) |
The code's diagrams express plant units per 100 feet, with alternative widths and densities rather than one universal width for each letter. (Type A diagram, Type B diagram, Type C diagram) Fractional plant units are reproduced as printed, not rounded to a project-specific count. (Type A diagram)
Type | Width | Required plant units per 100 feet |
|---|---|---|
A | 5 feet | 2.4 trees and 20 shrubs; continuous-hedge footnote applies. (Type A diagram) |
A | 10 feet | 2 trees and 8 shrubs. (Type A diagram) |
A | 15 feet | 1.6 trees and 6.4 shrubs. (Type A diagram) |
A | 20 feet | 1.2 trees and 4.8 shrubs. (Type A diagram) |
A | 25 feet | 1.0 tree and 3.2 shrubs. (Type A diagram) |
B | 10 feet | 4.8 trees and 20 shrubs; continuous-hedge footnote applies. (Type B diagram) |
B | 15 feet | 4.8 trees and 19.2 shrubs. (Type B diagram) |
B | 20 feet | 4 trees and 16 shrubs. (Type B diagram) |
B | 25 feet | 3.2 trees and 12.8 shrubs. (Type B diagram) |
B | 30 feet | 2.4 trees and 9.6 shrubs. (Type B diagram) |
C | 15 feet | 7.2 trees and 28.8 shrubs; continuous-hedge footnote applies. (Type C diagram) |
C | 25 feet | 6 trees, 24 shrubs and 12 conifers. (Type C diagram) |
C | 35 feet | 4.8 trees, 19.2 shrubs and 9.6 conifers. (Type C diagram) |
C | 45 feet | 3.6 trees, 14.4 shrubs and 7.2 conifers. (Type C diagram) |
C | 10 feet | 7.2 trees and an opaque wall; continuous-hedge footnote also applies. (Type C diagram) |
For the starred diagram alternatives, the continuous hedge has five-foot maximum on-center spacing and a minimum installed height of 3.5 feet. (Type A footnote, Type B footnote, Type C footnote) The street-buffer illustration labels a five-to-fourteen-foot buffer, while section 22.8(c)(1)'s operative text says five to fifteen feet; this discrepancy needs city clarification rather than silent substitution of one number. (Street-buffer diagram, section 22.8(c))
Buffers generally run along the required perimeter except approved entrances, exits and sight triangles, and cannot occupy a right-of-way, road easement or private street. (Section 22.8(b)) Compatible utility or drainage easements, passive recreation and stormwater functions are allowed only under the subsection's conditions, including preservation of required plantings and buffer width; stormwater areas cannot occupy more than half the buffer width. (Section 22.8(a))
Pools, active recreation, principal or accessory structures, storage and parking are prohibited in required buffers, and grading or other land disturbance needs approval as part of a development permit. (Section 22.8(a)(8) and (10)) Public-street A and B buffers have a five-to-fifteen-foot standard with shade trees and groundcover, full planted-area coverage within one year and the listed limitations on walls, fences, service areas and dumpsters. (Section 22.8(c))
A privacy fence at least five feet high may support a fifty-percent plant-density reduction only through a written request with maintenance provisions; alternative designs approved by the city manager cannot reduce buffer width or the site's total required plants. (Section 22.8(e) and (f)) Trees in buffers wider than ten feet must include at least half large trees, and buffer trees can satisfy other required planting only if the applicable size, type and location requirements are met. (Section 22.8(f))
District overlays and exceptions
Many district landscape sections expressly incorporate Division 22, but those references do not erase district-specific conditions. (Section 32.12, section 35.13) Check the zoning designation and approved plan with Community Development before applying a generic table to a project. (Community Development directory)
Large Resort District: New temporary-lodging or commercial construction over fifty feet high, or adjoining existing residential property outside that district, triggers a thirty-foot side-yard landscape buffer; adjoining outside residential property also triggers the applicable rear buffer. (Section 35.13) Beach access may occupy it but accessory uses may not, and the commission's potential reduction of up to fifty percent is unavailable where it adjoins the specified outside residential use. (Section 35.13)
Eighth Avenue CRD-EA: Section 40.12 exempts this district from Division 22's buffering and landscaping requirements, not expressly from its removal-permit and tree-protection provisions. (Section 40.12, section 22.11)
Pass-a-Grille overlay: When the city requires Public Frontage Zone improvements, section 20.20 specifies a furnishing zone at least six feet deep with its tree-grate or planter-bed alternatives: the tree-grate standard provides one canopy tree per thirty feet of building frontage, while beds are at least six feet wide, no more than twenty-five feet long, with one canopy tree per bed and full groundcover. (Section 20.20(a)(1) and (2)) That section also governs the associated pedestrian zones and residential front-buffer treatment, which should be checked with the project plan. (Section 20.20(a)(3), (4) and (c))
Blind Pass and Gulf Boulevard lot aggregation: The commercial-use rules allow nonfronting lots to be combined with the specified road-fronting lots and require those aggregated lots to have an additional ten-foot landscaped buffer from residential uses; this is not a universal extra front setback for every lot on those roads. (Sections 32.6 and 33.6, Gulf Boulevard aggregation rule)
For redevelopment-district projects, also check the current energy-and-environmental-design provision: September 9, 2026 minutes record first-reading approval of proposed Ordinance 2026-15 concerning section 39.9's green-building alternatives, while the adopted-ordinance index checked for this review does not list it as adopted. (September 9 minutes, 2026 ordinance index) It is a pending development-related item to confirm, not a replacement tree rule treated here as enacted. (September 9 minutes)
Completion, maintenance and enforcement
Required landscaping must be maintained; section 22.3(d) calls for dead required landscaping to be replaced within thirty days, while section 22.10 addresses severely damaged vegetation within thirty days and allows 180 days following catastrophic events. (Section 22.3(d), section 22.10) Irrigation must meet section 22.10's automatic in-ground system requirements and its drip or microspray rule where reclaimed water is not used. (Section 22.10)
Development compliance is checked before certificates of occupancy, and violations can lead to withheld approvals or permits, stopped work and other enforcement remedies rather than only a tree fee. (Sections 3.6 and 3.16, enforcement provision) Owners, agents, lessees, contractors and others who participate in or maintain a violation may be exposed under the enforcement provisions. (Section 22-276)
What other permits, fees and review deadlines affect a project?
Clearing, excavation or fill is not automatically authorized by a tree approval: the development-order provisions, buffer-disturbance restrictions, floodplain permits and coastal rules apply according to the site's location and activity. (Section 3.5, section 22.8(a), section 98-123.1, section 25.9) For nonexempt work seaward of the applicable coastal line, the city coastal provision requires city and state authorization; flood-hazard-area development requires the applicable floodplain development permit and other required permits before activity. (Section 25.9, section 98-123.1)
Development fees
Development projects may also require the site-plan, zoning, conditional-use, variance and other fees in Appendix A, separate from the tree fees and landscaping-expenditure schedule in this guide. (Appendix A, Planning and Zoning Fees) Have the city classify the application and resolve any boundary gap, including the site-plan table's unassigned exactly 5,000-square-foot lot; section 3.1 requires the initial application fee and does not refund it merely because the application is denied. (Appendix A, section 3.1)
Review, appeals and variances
Section 5.1 provides a ten-day site-plan sufficiency review and a decision within thirty days after a sufficient application; site-plan approval permits the applicant to seek a building permit rather than authorizing construction itself. (Section 5.1(c) and (d), section 5.4) Check section 5.3 for the approval's construction-initiation, permit-expiration and financial-guarantee conditions. (Section 5.3)
A tree-permit denial must state reasons, and section 22.12(f) sends its appeal to section 3.14, which generally requires a written administrative appeal within thirty days and excludes building permits from that route. (Section 22.12(f), section 3.14(a)) Appendix A lists a $20 tree appeal; its general administrative-appeal entries are separate classifications, not charges to add automatically to that tree appeal. (Appendix A, tree and administrative appeal rows)
Site-plan appeals contain a separate conflict: section 5.1(e) says ten days, while section 5.5 directs appeals to section 3.14's thirty-day route, so obtain the city's written procedural determination promptly rather than assuming the longer deadline protects a site-plan appeal. (Section 5.1(e), section 5.5, section 3.14) Section 3.14 also provides a thirty-day circuit-court appeal from the final development order of the commission or an appointed board, and a stay subject to the city-manager imminent-peril certification and commission determination. (Section 3.14(b) through (d))
Variance relief requires the applicable findings under section 3.12, and the practical-difficulty route for landscaping is limited to single-family homes on single lots in established residential districts; its pervious-area reduction cannot exceed fifty percent and may be granted only once per property. (Section 3.12(a)(2) and (b)) Route the application's timing, owner authorization, survey, approval duration and limits on varying commission-imposed conditions through that section rather than treating a tree permit as variance approval. (Section 3.12(b)(3), (c) and (d))
How do you apply for a St. Pete Beach tree permit?
For the ordinary city route, subject to state preemption, Appendix A lists a $25 application filing fee, while the form says $25 per tree with its transplanted, dead-tree and Category I waivers; see the comparison table below for those differences and the form's broader nuisance-list heading. (Appendix A, tree fee row, city application guidelines) Use the city's tree-removal form rather than the building portal as a substitute, and resolve the applicable exceptions before submitting. (City tree application, Building and Permitting)
The tree permit is valid for three months from issuance, while the ordinary replacement deadline described above runs separately. (Section 22.12(b) and (e)) Complete the following steps for the ordinary city application route.
Establish jurisdiction and project scope. Use the county address lookup and confirm zoning and any development approvals with Community Development at 727-367-2735, 155 Corey Avenue, first floor. (Pinellas County My Neighborhood, Community Development directory)
Prepare the tree submission. Provide owner and agent information, authorization where applicable, a site diagram showing the tree locations, contractor details and the form's acknowledgment and signature; the city also publishes a tree-removal diagram sheet. (City tree application, tree diagram sheet)
Attach the additional development material when applicable. Include the notarized tree statement or removal, relocation and protection plans required by section 22.12(c), together with the separate site-plan or building package. (Section 22.12(c), section 5.1)
Submit and resolve the fee classification. The online tree form says the city emails a payment link after review; the form and Appendix A do not use identical fee wording, as shown below. (City application guidelines, Appendix A)
Wait for the applicable authorization. The city form requires approval before work; development projects also use the city's separate permit applications and status links, with building questions directed to permits@stpetebeach.org and planning questions to planning@stpetebeach.org. (City application guidelines, permit applications and forms, demolition checklist)
For tree-permit questions, Public Services lists 727-363-9243 and currently warns that its in-person office is temporarily closed because of hurricane impacts; confirm arrangements before visiting. (Public Services) With the owner's consent, the city may relocate a healthy desirable tree at city expense within fifteen working days after permit issuance; if it does not, section 22.13 allows removal under the permit. (Section 22.13)
Where do the city's form and code disagree?
The adopted code supplies the legal requirements; the application form explains administration but does not itself amend the code. (Section 22.14, city application guidelines) The following differences deserve a written city determination where they affect a particular application, not silent editorial correction.
Topic | Codified text | Administrative wording or defect |
|---|---|---|
Tree filing fee, subject to state preemption | Appendix A lists $25 without a per-tree unit. (Appendix A) | The form says $25 per tree, with no fee for transplanted, dead or Category I trees, and a 2.5-percent card surcharge; those additional qualifications are administrative guidance. (City application guidelines) |
Category I replacement | Section 22.12(d)(6) makes invasive status a review factor; its replacement paragraph does not expressly state the form's Category I waiver. (Section 22.12) | The form says no replacement for Category I trees but still requires a permit for identification, subject to state preemption. (City application guidelines) |
Palm threshold and measurement | Subject to the separate exceptions, removal protection starts at eight feet overall, inclusive; planting equivalencies use clear trunk height. (Section 22.11, section 22.4(c)) | The form says palms “more than eight feet overall”, omitting the code's inclusive boundary; its shorthand does not make an exactly eight-foot palm exempt. (City application guidelines, section 22.11) |
Permit cross-reference | Section 22.11 points to section 22.13 for a permit. (Section 22.11) | Section 22.13 actually covers city relocation; section 22.14 contains application and penalty requirements. (Section 22.13, section 22.14) |
Dwelling replacement exception | Section 22.12(e) points to section 22.4 for the lot minimum. (Section 22.12(e)) | Section 22.4 concerns plant material and credits; section 22.5 contains the dwelling lot-count table. (Section 22.4, section 22.5) |
Old fee heading | Appendix A still places tree fees under Chapter 130, Vegetation. (Appendix A) | Chapter 130 itself is reserved after repeal of its former vegetation provisions, while the operative tree provisions are in LDC Division 22. (Chapter 130, Division 22) |
The table endpoints, preservation-credit overlap and site-plan appeal conflict identified in their own sections are additional codified uncertainties, not permission to select whichever outcome costs less. (Sections 22.4 through 22.6, lot table, renovation table, section 5.1, section 5.5, Appendix A)
How do you confirm that the property is inside the city?
Use Pinellas County's address-based My Neighborhood tool to establish the municipality rather than relying on a mailing city or a nearby city's name. (Pinellas County My Neighborhood) Confirm the parcel and zoning designation with St. Pete Beach Community Development when a boundary or project detail remains uncertain. (Community Development directory)
This guide is for the City of St. Pete Beach, not a substitute for another municipality's decision. For related reading only, use our city-or-county permit guide, unincorporated Pinellas County guide and St. Petersburg guide; none is the authority for St. Pete Beach's law.
What about street trees, right-of-way work and utilities?
A private-property tree approval does not establish authority to work in the public right-of-way; the city's right-of-way form expressly includes landscaping and excavation and requires the applicable plans and authorization. (Right-of-way utilization application) Its conditions require the contractor to be registered with the city and meet the applicable insurance standards, a separate obligation from the ordinary tree form's registration statement. (Right-of-way utilization conditions)
Section 6.20's treatment of public-service utility locations is not a blanket exemption from all tree or right-of-way controls, and communications installations must be reviewed under their applicable chapter and permit conditions. (Section 6.20, Chapter 132 permits) The right-of-way form also requires restoration and permits city inspection; tree and landscape impacts belong in that authorized scope rather than being presumed covered by a private owner's consent. (Right-of-way utilization conditions)
For communications providers, section 132-6(d) expressly requires the applicable city permits where the provider considers trimming, pruning or removal necessary for its facilities. (Section 132-6(d)) The new-pole standards also preserve Division 22 pruning protections and prohibit pruning, removing or irreversibly damaging a protected tree without the city's permit authorization, rather than establishing a utility-tree exemption. (Section 132-17(b)(8)f)
What does the St. Pete Beach code leave unspecified?
In the code snapshot reviewed, Division 22 does not specify a multi-stem aggregation formula, a universal numeric tree-protection radius or an ordinary-pruning permit; these are limited observations about that division, not exemptions from other applicable provisions. (Sections 22.9 through 22.12, maintenance, threshold, permit provisions) No general per-tree tree-bank payment or fee-in-lieu rate was located in the searched code; section 22.6's conditional renovation-landscaping payment is a different mechanism. (Section 22.6(b), Appendix A)
Items searched for and not located as of October 2, 2026
The whole published code export, including the Land Development Code and Comprehensive Plan, was searched for multi-stem calculation methods, root-pruning and numeric protection-zone terminology, tree-bank and fee-in-lieu language, and the literal citation 163.045; no additional generally applicable provision resolving those specified gaps was located. (St. Pete Beach Code of Ordinances, Land Development Code) That citation's absence does not suspend state law: section 22.14 expressly begins with the state-preemption qualification. (Section 22.14(a))
A separate St. Pete Beach notice explaining the full current 163.045 test was not located in the city tree-form, Public Services, building-permit and ordinance resources or targeted city-web searches on that date; this article therefore links the statute itself rather than another city's notice. (City tree application, Public Services, Florida Statute 163.045) Historical adoption entries are available for older provisions, but the original effective-date clauses for the 2005 tree thresholds and some current fee provisions were not located in the city ordinance resources checked, so an adoption date is not represented here as a verified commencement date. (Section 22.11 history, city ordinance archive)
Sources and scope
This review uses the city's Supplement 53 Land Development Code through Ordinance 2026-11, enacted June 23, 2026, and Supplement 53 Code of Ordinances through Ordinance 26-14, enacted July 28, 2026. (Land Development Code, Code of Ordinances) The later-record check covered the posted 2026 ordinance index and available City Commission agendas and minutes from July through September 2026; it located the pending section 39.9 proposal discussed above but no adopted amendment to Division 22's tree-permit rules in those records. (2026 ordinance index, City Commission records)
The application guidance, Florida statute, county mangrove program and current invasive-plant list were checked separately because they answer different parts of the process. (City application guidelines, Florida Statute 163.045, county mangrove program, current plant list) This is a documentary reference, not a determination for a particular tree, property or project.
Where does this leave your tree or project?
A tree may be a candidate for removal or pruning, but its species, measurements, condition, location and applicable approvals still need to be resolved. For a St. Pete Beach property, take the permit and project questions to the city's Public Services or Community Development department, and mangrove questions to the Pinellas County program identified above. (Public Services, Community Development, county mangrove program)
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. St. Pete Beach is outside that service area, and this page is provided only as a regional reference.
For a property within our service area, you can call 727-934-5804 to discuss our services. For help finding information in our published guides, start a conversation with our website agent, the chat on this page.