Zephyrhills Tree Removal Permits and Tree Ordinance Guide
Last reviewed October 28, 2026. Next review due April 28, 2027. By Forest, Property Intelligence Specialist, Ken's Tree Service.
Do you need a tree removal permit in Zephyrhills?
Section 7.06.05.04(A)(3) requires a Tree Removal Permit for a regulated tree at least four inches DBH, including a dead tree, subject to local exemptions and the qualifying state-law route. The permit wording does not expressly settle regulated palms; confirm a palm removal with Planning rather than assuming it needs no permit.
This guide concerns the incorporated City of Zephyrhills, not a mailing address alone. The parent regional resource is tree permits in unincorporated Pasco County; confirm jurisdiction before using either guide.
Does the ordinance favor keeping trees?
The retention standard in Section 7.06.05.06(C) is to preserve regulated and grand trees to the maximum extent practicable. Section 7.06.01(B) applies the landscaping part citywide to buildings, development, improvements and land unless expressly exempted by law, including existing-project improvements exceeding 51% of appraised property cost.
Which trees and palms are protected?
The Section 7.06.05.01 definition of tree covers a self-supporting single- or multi-stem woody plant of a species typically reaching at least 15 feet at maturity. Section 7.06.05.03(A) defines regulated trees as nonprohibited tree species measuring at least four inches DBH.
Section 7.06.05.03(B) separately defines regulated palms as any nonprohibited palm species with at least ten feet of clear trunk, not just cabbage palms. That is a classification rule, not an express palm permit sentence. The removal-permit sentence names regulated trees, while Section 7.06.05.09(C) addresses regulated palms removed pursuant to a permit; these provisions do not expressly say that a regulated palm does or does not need one. Ask the Planning Department about the permit treatment of a palm with, for example, 12 feet of clear trunk.
Under Section 7.06.05.03(D), grand designation requires at least 26 inches DBH, a listed species and grade 3 or greater; prohibited species are excluded. The list includes cypress, elm, holly, magnolia, maple, oak, pine, red cedar, sweet gum, sycamore, and hickory or pecan; the Planning Director may add species using similar standards.
How do you measure a tree?
DBH in Section 7.06.05.01 typically means trunk diameter 4.5 feet above existing grade. Section 7.06.05.02(A) requires the current Guide for Plant Appraisal measurement method. As a circular-trunk screening calculation at that height, circumference divided by 3.14 approximates diameter: four inches DBH is about 12.56 inches around, and 26 inches is about 81.64 inches around.
Grand-designation measurements round up to the nearest whole inch and are determined and verified by the Planning Director under Section 7.06.05.03(D). Palm clear-trunk height in Section 7.06.05.01 runs from the top of the root ball to the lowest untrimmed petiole. The circumference calculation does not replace these methods or city designation.
Which exceptions change the permit answer?
The exemptions in Section 7.06.05.07(A)(1) include prohibited species. Subsection (A)(2) covers trees grown specifically for sale by commercial nurseries. Subsection (A)(3) covers trees grown specifically to produce lumber and its byproducts.
Section 7.06.05.07(A)(4) addresses emergency work and storm mitigation needed to resume normal daily activities. For those regulated-tree removals, subsection (A)(4)(a) requires a permit within ten working days after removal and says photographs of the tree and damage should be available. The duplicate exemption in Section 7.06.05.04(A)(3)(d) instead says "normal activities." Its paragraph (1) has the same ten-working-day permit deadline but refers to photographs of the tree.
Section 7.06.05.07(A)(5) separately allows removal of trees or tree parts posing a hazard or danger to persons or property following a declared state of emergency by Florida; that exemption ends when the state of emergency terminates.
The fee exception in Section 7.06.05.04(A)(1) applies when the responsible private owner proves by substantial competent evidence that a public utility company fatally damaged the tree. A fee exception does not itself remove the permit requirement.
Does pruning a private tree need a permit?
The reviewed code states no general private-tree pruning permit procedure, but damage or effective removal through pruning remains controlled, and grand-limb work and root-zone disturbance have specific approvals. Separate right-of-way and approved-landscape requirements also remain. Section 7.06.05.04(B)(1) states: "All pruning of regulated and grand trees shall be performed or supervised by an ISA Certified Arborist." Subsection (A)(5) states: "Topping of regulated trees is prohibited."
The landscape-maintenance text in Section 7.06.02.05(J) instead says: "All pruning shall be accomplished by an ISA Certified Arborist." These are different published formulations for the city to reconcile, not permission to ignore either one. Section 7.06.05.04(B)(2) says generally not more than 25 percent of the total area should be reduced in one pruning operation. Paragraph (B)(3) prohibits large outline holes from branch removal except structural pruning of young, maturing trees involving temporary branches.
The maintenance standards in Section 7.06.05.04(B)(5) reference Section 07.06.02, current ANSI A300, ANSI Z133 and ISA Best Management Practices. Before maintenance on a grand-tree limb at least six inches in diameter at its base, paragraph (B)(6) requires a Certified Arborist affidavit for city approval detailing the work. Under subsection (A)(5), regulated trees destroyed by improper pruning must be replaced with the same species, at least four inches DBH, using the Table 1 replacement ratio.
For bid screening, ask who will perform or supervise pruning and how grand-limb approval will be addressed. These are the code's requirements, not Ken's Tree Service credentials.
Are invasive trees and camphor trees exempt?
Section 7.06.05.03(C) defines prohibited species as Category I species, palms included, on the current Florida Invasive Species Council plant list. Its paragraph (C)(1) makes a specific camphor exception: under 26 inches DBH, neither removal permits nor mitigation are required; at least 26 inches DBH requires a city permit without an application fee and native-tree replacement at 1:1, at least four-inch caliper.
Who may apply, and what does one residential application require?
Section 7.06.05.06(A) says any person desiring regulated-tree removal submits the city-approved written or digital application with applicable fees. Subsection (B) requires evaluation by a Certified Arborist to determine the grade using the referenced Appendix X Tree Grading Guidelines. The grading requirement is not written only for development; no narrower published homeowner instruction was obtained.
Section 7.06.05.05(A) uses a Certified Arborist to determine health and designation under the grading guidelines and current Guide for Plant Appraisal. Subsection (B) requires specific arboricultural justification for downgrading a tree to grade 3 or below. An individual permit under Section 7.06.05.06(D)(1) is for removal not associated with a development proposal.
Section 7.06.05.06(D)(2)(a) allows an understandable scaled sketch for an established residence or business when removal is independent of other improvements, showing structures, vegetation, tree dispositions, root-zone grade changes and an applicable preservation plan. The code-search findings later in this guide distinguish tree-application authorization from separate development approvals.
Does Florida Statute 163.045 override the local process?
For an owner satisfying every condition of Florida Statute 163.045, that controlling state law bars local government from requiring notice, application, approval, permit, fee or mitigation for qualifying tree pruning, trimming or removal, and from requiring replanting. Tree health alone is not its test. The local qualified-removal classification and the state-law route are not interchangeable.
The statute's residential-property definition covers a single-family detached building on a lot actively used for single-family residential purposes, with a conforming or legally recognized nonconforming use under local land-development regulations. That definition does not extend the exception to ordinary commercial property, multifamily buildings, institutions or HOA common areas merely because an owner wants a tree removed.
The statutory documentation definition requires an onsite assessment following Best Management Practices - Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017), performed by an ISA certified arborist or Florida licensed landscape architect and signed by that professional.
Subsection (2) of Section 163.045 states: "A local government may not require a notice, application, approval, permit, fee, or mitigation for the pruning, trimming, or removal of a tree on a residential property if the property owner possesses documentation from an arborist certified by the ISA or a Florida licensed landscape architect that the tree poses an unacceptable risk to persons or property." It defines unacceptable risk as removal being the only means of practically mitigating risk below moderate under those named tree-risk assessment procedures.
Subsection (3) of Section 163.045 states: "A local government may not require a property owner to replant a tree that was pruned, trimmed, or removed in accordance with this section." Subsection (4) excludes the exercise of specifically delegated mangrove-protection authority.
By contrast, Section 7.06.05.06(D)(1)(b) requires one tree planted for each tree or palm removed as a local qualified removal under Section 7.06.05.09. Read that local text beside the state prohibitions, not as a narrowing of them. Ken's Tree Service does not sign this documentation itself; this regional resource offers no work or assessments in Zephyrhills.
What are the penalties for unauthorized removal or pruning?
Under Section 7.06.05.11(B), starting without a required permit costs triple the permit fee if subsequently permitted, without replacing prosecution. Subsection (D) sets an illegal or effective removal civil penalty at three times the permit and mitigation rate. Subsection (C), Table 3, sets these per-inch tree-abuse penalties for illegal pruning and other prohibited acts in Section 7.06.05.04.
Regulated-tree DBH | Homestead-exempt property, per inch | All other property, per inch |
|---|---|---|
4 to less than 10 inches | $12.50 | $25.00 |
10 to less than 20 inches | $25.00 | $50.00 |
20 to less than 30 inches | $35.00 | $62.50 |
30 inches and greater | $50.00 | $75.00 |
Section 7.06.05.11(D)(1) doubles replacement and charges double the appropriate table rate for mitigation that cannot fit; its replacement pointer names Section 7.06.05.10. That is the fund section, while the replacement tables are in 7.06.05.09; the pointer is not silently corrected here. Section 7.06.04.12(D) separately imposes for-hire unlawful-removal fines of $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second and $3,000 for a third or later offense. Subsection (F) sets improper-pruning fines for hire at $100 per regulated or grand tree per offense.
Section 7.06.04.12(E) requires fines paid before future tree-removal permits are approved. Subsection (G) treats each unlawfully removed regulated tree as a separate offense and also points mitigation to the fund section. Subsection (H) allows Circuit Court injunctive relief in addition to other remedies.
Fines under Section 7.06.04.12(I) are due within three months of the violation letter or, after appeal, 30 days after the final order. Subsection (J) makes removal fines unpaid 15 days beyond their due date a premises lien, including the listed administrative fees, penalties and attorney fees with judgment-rate interest.
Section 7.06.05.04(A)(6) prohibits allowing diseased or dead trees or branches dangerous to a right-of-way or another property. Section 7.06.05.07(A)(6) authorizes city removal of diseased or dead private trees constituting a hazard to life, safety or property.
When is removal qualified, and what replacement is required?
Section 7.06.05.06(D)(1)(a) classifies an individual removal as qualified for foundation harm, the stated unacceptable-risk test, or a tree that is dead, diseased, insect ridden, or naturally damaged or weakened. Paragraph (D)(1)(c) allows consideration of unqualified removals with one replacement tree per removal or $75 to the City Tree Trust Fund, subject to the qualifying state-law route. The qualified route's 1:1 requirement and its state-law conflict are stated in the statute section, not resolved by the classification alone.
Section 7.06.05.08(A) allows approval only when at least one issuance criterion is met. Paragraph (A)(1) covers safety hazards, threatened public or utility services, and visibility-triangle trees. Paragraph (A)(2) covers major decline, disease, insects, specified injury or hazardous defective structure. Paragraph (A)(3) requires no practical alternative for construction access, utility or drainage alignment, or relocating or redesigning the listed building, pool, patio or driveway improvements; staff may require explored alternatives. Paragraph (A)(4) requires a City Manager finding for the public-interest ground.
Section 7.06.05.08(B) permits denial even when an issuance factor is met. Paragraph (B)(1) identifies needed screening between incompatible uses. Subsection (C) requires written denial identifying the specific criteria. For one residential tree, therefore, qualified or unqualified classification is not an approval promise; the denial table and the individual-permit exclusion in Section 7.06.05.09(J) also have different stated scopes.
Replacement and retention-credit tables
Except as specifically provided, Section 7.06.05.09(B) applies Table 1 to regulated trees, gives retention credits for regulated trees graded 3 or greater, and charges for remaining unplanted inches.
Removed regulated-tree DBH | Replacement ratio | Retention-credit ratio | Fee per unreplaced inch |
|---|---|---|---|
4 to less than 10 inches | 1:1 | 1:1 | $50 |
10 to less than 20 inches | 2:1 | 3:1 | $100 |
20 to less than 30 inches | 4:1 | 5:1 | $125 |
30 inches and greater | 5:1 | 8:1 | $150 |
Except as specifically provided, Section 7.06.05.09(D) applies Table 2 to grand trees and remaining caliper inches after retention credits.
Removed grand-tree DBH | Replacement ratio | Retention-credit ratio | Fee per unreplaced inch |
|---|---|---|---|
26 to 29 inches | 4:1 | 10:1 | $125 |
30 to 39 inches | 5:1 | 12:1 | $150 |
40 to 49 inches | 5:1 | 12:1 | $175 |
50 to 59 inches | 5:1 | 14:1 | $200 |
60 inches and greater | 5:1 | 14:1 | $225 |
For regulated palms removed pursuant to a permit, Section 7.06.05.09(C) requires 1:1 replacement with palms at least ten feet clear trunk except as specifically provided; palms below ten feet are exempt from this subsection. If replacement cannot fit, paragraph (C)(2) uses clear-trunk feet multiplied by same-species retail value per foot, calculated as wholesale times 2.5 with a $25-per-foot minimum.
Section 7.06.05.09(I)(1) requires replacement trees from the City of Tampa Natural Resources Preferred Tree list. Paragraph (I)(2) requires Florida No. 1 grade or better under current state nursery standards. Paragraph (I)(3) requires replacement trees at least four-inch caliper at installation. Paragraph (I)(4) requires replacement palms at least ten feet clear trunk.
Section 7.06.05.09(E) makes fund payments due at permit issuance and planting due within three months for sites without a new-development building permit, or before occupancy for sites with one. On developed properties, subsection (F) requires the applicant to "guarantee the survival of the replacement trees" and allows annual city inspections for two years after planting. Subsection (G) provides penalties, replanting and additional monitoring for noncompliance.
What changes for commercial, multifamily and HOA property?
If you manage a business, multifamily parcel, institution or HOA common area, the same city tree and palm classifications in Section 7.06.05.03 and applicable exemptions in Section 7.06.05.07 remain relevant, including the unresolved palm permit wording. Do not expand the statute's single-family detached residential definition to these properties; the city's fee distinction in Section 7.06.05.06(A) is residential parcels versus all other parcels, not homeowners versus companies.
For trees in an approved landscape plan, route substitutions, continuing maintenance and replacement timing through Section 7.06.02.02 and Section 7.06.02.05 rather than treating a removal permit as a plan amendment. Ask Planning to reconcile overlapping landscape and individual-permit planting periods for the project.
What applies when building, redeveloping, clearing or installing a pool?
If a pool, addition, new building, demolition, clearing or redevelopment affects trees, coordinate the tree application with the project rather than assuming an independent individual-removal route. Tree approval does not establish that other required project approvals have been obtained.
Section 11.00.02(A) requires the applicable approved site plan or subdivision plat and final development order for development, changed uses and structures, without eliminating other required permits. Section 11.02.01.01(A) exempts harmonious single-family or duplex construction on existing lawful platted lots from the development-order process, not building or other permits. Section 11.04.03(C) generally requires final site plans, with the stated subdivision and lawful-platted-lot residential exceptions.
Under Section 11.02.03.02.01(A), a development-order application must be signed by all owners and notarized, another party must prove authorization, and a corporate signature must note the signer's position and bear the corporate seal. That separate project requirement is not a statement that the tree application publishes an owner or agent authorization attachment.
Section 11.01.06(A) allows building applications during final site-plan review, but permits await approval and the development order; incomplete final plans stop processing. Section 7.06.05.06(E)(4) authorizes withholding tree permit issuance where a development permit is required until site-plan approval. Section 7.06.04.12(K) requires an approved tree permit or notarized no-removal verification before building permits, plus a preservation plan when regulated or grand trees remain.
Survey, inventory, preservation plan and credentials
Section 7.06.05.06(E)(1)(a) calls for a survey of parcel dimensions, existing structures, proposed improvements and a Certified Arborist tree inventory. The inventory in paragraph (a)(3) covers every tree on site and within 25 feet: number, location, botanical and common species including prohibited species, DBH, canopy spread, appropriate height, dripline, critical root zone, grade, grand status, disposition, justification and requested alternatives or other city information. Paragraph (a)(3)(d) requires approximating off-site tree dimensions to avoid trespass. Paragraph (a)(3)(f) similarly requires approximating off-site condition ratings and grades.
Before construction, Section 7.06.05.06(E)(2)(a) requires a Certified Arborist Tree Preservation Plan, or TPP, for regulated trees on the property and within 25 feet, explaining protection and impact mitigation. Its paragraph (1) identifies protection zones, barricades and proposed root-pruning lines.
Section 7.06.02(B) requires landscape plans prepared or approved by a registered landscape architect under Chapter 481 with the site plans. Section 7.06.02.04(A) requires a landscape architect signature and seal and allows withholding occupancy for plan compliance. The utility information in Section 7.06.02(B)(5) uses Appendix D for proposed trees under power lines. Paragraph (B)(7) requires a separate tree survey of retained, relocated and removed trees and protection methods, but points to 7.06.05.07.D.1.a. That pointer does not name the development inventory provision in Section 7.06.05.06(E). Use Section 11.04.02.01 and Section 11.04.03 for related site-plan submittals, and Section 7.06.02.01 through Section 7.06.03 for non-tree planting, irrigation and landscape alternatives.
Protection during construction
In Section 7.06.05.01, critical root zone, or CRZ, has a radius of one foot from the trunk face per inch of DBH unless otherwise city-approved. The protected root zone combines dripline and CRZ, subject to city-approved site-specific adjustment. The protective barricade definition requires at least four feet of height.
Section 7.06.02.01(E) requires the tree permit and protective barriers before development for regulated trees in and adjacent to the project, including consenting owners' off-site trees within 25 feet; barriers remain through construction until staff authorize removal or final occupancy, and listed violations carry up to $250 per day. Paragraph (F)(1) requires marking requested removals before clearing or grubbing and erecting retained-tree barriers before construction. Paragraph (F)(2) extends protection to the dripline over pervious surfaces.
Section 7.06.05.06(E)(3)(a) requires Certified Arborist supervision, weekly inspections and barricade-condition reports during development. Paragraph (3)(b) requires matching TPP numbers on regulated and grand trees. Paragraph (3)(c) requires root-zone barricades before land preparation or construction. Paragraph (3)(d) prohibits solvents, stored materials, machinery and temporary soil deposits inside protected root zones.
Section 7.06.05.06(E)(3)(e) requires development pruning, roots included, performed or supervised by a Certified Arborist. Paragraph (3)(f) requires clean severing at the approved protection perimeter before land development when clearing removes roots. Section 7.06.05.04(B)(7)(a) requires a TPP for regulated or grand CRZ disturbance, with root-pruning extent determined by an ISA Certified Arborist.
The root standards in Section 7.06.05.04(B)(7)(b) avoid damage to important structural roots or significant overall health effects. Paragraph (7)(c) allows root pruning only at five times DBH from the trunk. Paragraph (7)(d) requires clean pruning-line cuts and says construction-affected CRZ roots should be pruned to 18 inches or the shallower disturbance depth, with a utility-line waiver possible for tunneling or directional boring. Paragraph (7)(e) requires direct Certified Arborist supervision for excavation, trenching, grubbing, fill, equipment travel and other grand-tree CRZ impacts. Paragraph (B)(4) addresses cuts and fill with TPP-specified root pruning, a retaining wall or tree well, and aeration. These are contractor standards, not do-it-yourself instructions; ask Planning which boundary governs the approved TPP.
Removal limits and mitigation on development sites
Section 7.06.05.08(B)(2) applies both DBH and individual-tree-count removal percentages, excluding diseased, damaged, burned or insect-infested trees from the average and allowed-removal calculation.
Average trees per acre, 4 inches DBH or larger | Removal percentage |
|---|---|
Above 40 | 50% |
20 to 40 | 30% |
10 to 19 | 10% |
Under 10 | None, unless the trunk at breast height is within 8 feet of a proposed structure or improvement such as a road or utility line, or the developer agrees to replacement under this part. |
Section 7.06.05.09(J) repeats the density bands and under-ten exception for development, building and clearing other than individual permits; excess removal may require double inch-for-inch replacement or fund payment, with a Planning Director percentage waiver. Its version omits the dual-percentage language and diseased-tree exclusion in the issuance table; the stated scopes should not be silently merged. Section 7.06.05.10(A) permits City Tree Trust Fund uses including city trees, maintenance, professional review, education and other qualifying City Manager-approved purposes.
Landscape tree requirements and buffers
Section 7.06.02.01(I)(1) requires shade trees at least four-inch caliper and ten feet high, containerized or tree-spade transplanted, with mature spread greater than 20 feet; likely overhead-line interference calls for understory trees no more than 20 feet on center. Paragraph (I)(2) requires multi-trunk plantings to have at least three trunks, each at least one-inch caliper, and six-foot installation height. Paragraph (I)(3) allows three grouped palms per required shade tree for at most 30% of required shade trees, with ten-foot clear trunks, but prohibits palm substitution for shade-tree mitigation.
For developments over one acre, Section 7.06.02.01(I)(4) limits one species to 50% of trees or 30% of other non-turf plants. Subsection (L) separately limits one species to 50% of a landscape plan's non-turf plants. Section 7.06.02(D) prohibits planting Category I species. Subsection (E) requires their removal on construction sites and owner control of regrowth in perpetuity after occupancy.
Section 7.06.04(A) applies buffering to new development except single- and two-family lots outside an approved overall development plan. Subsection (C) supplies this subject-and-adjacent-use matrix.
Subject and adjacent use | Residential | Commercial | Office | Industrial | Automotive | ROW under 80 feet | ROW at least 80 feet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Residential | * | B | B | C | C | A | C |
Commercial | B | A | A | C | A | A | A |
Office | B | A | A | C | B | A | A |
Industrial | C | C | C | A | B | B | B |
Automotive | C | A | A | B | A | *A | A |
ROW under 80 feet | A | A | A | B | *A | not assigned | not assigned |
ROW at least 80 feet | C | A | A | B | A | not assigned | not assigned |
The footnotes to the Section 7.06.04(C) matrix call for residential Type A below ten acres and Type B at ten acres or more; automotive entries also reference paragraph (C)(4), and "not assigned" represents blank entries.
Section 7.06.04(C)(1) makes Type A ten feet wide, with one shade-tree row at maximum 30-foot centers and evergreen shrubs at least 24 inches high at installation on maximum 36-inch centers. Paragraph (C)(2) makes Type B 20 feet wide with two staggered shade-tree rows: maximum 30-foot centers overall, 60 feet within each row and a 30-foot offset; screening must be 80% opaque within one year and at least six feet high at installation, with maximum five-foot shrub centers.
Section 7.06.04(C)(3)(a) makes Type C 20 feet wide with shade trees at maximum 50-foot centers; up to 30% may use clusters of at least three palms at maximum eight-foot centers, with maximum 50 feet between tree plantings and at least five shrubs per tree or palms. Paragraph (C)(3)(c) adds roadside wall or berm planting and possible sidewalk-tree requirements, including 50-foot tree spacing and the three-palms-per-tree, 30% substitution limit. Paragraph (C)(4) requires automotive stations and gas-pump convenience stores to have the stated 15-foot roadside buffer, maximum 50-foot shade-tree spacing and up-to-30% clustered-palm substitution at three palms per cluster on eight-foot centers, alongside adjacent-use buffers.
Section 7.06.04(C)(5) requires perimeter Type C buffering and at least one ten-by-20-foot island with one shade tree per maximum ten parking spaces. Paragraph (C)(6) requires one understory tree per 20 building lineal feet in at least ten-foot foundation planting areas. Paragraph (C)(9) requires landscaping for human-made dry and wet retention areas within 20 feet of a public right-of-way or in required buffers; areas within 20 feet of and parallel to a public right-of-way use Type D along that frontage and Type A on the remaining sides, allowing existing natural vegetation instead of new planting. The published buffer list does not define Type D; ask Planning to resolve that reference.
Section 7.06.04(C)(9)(b) limits ponds and swales to 50% of buffer area unless native vegetation remains at natural grade, and 70% of width at any location; pond banks need at least one tree per 50 lineal feet. Paragraph (C)(9)(d) requires an outside Type A buffer for ponds requiring fencing. Section 7.11.02.04(C) separately requires traditional-development parking canopy trees at one per six spaces, or eight in a neighborhood center, with maximum 80 feet between trees. Subsection (D) requires one street canopy tree per 30 frontage feet, at least 14 feet high and 2.5 inches diameter at 4.5 feet, on 25-to-35-foot centers; covered-walkway frontage allows 1:1 palms.
Contractors, stop work, clearing and occupancy
The business-tax schedule in Section 110.28(A) separately lists tree surgery, including trimming and removal. Section 50.05(A)(1) exempts privately employed tree trimmers' and landscape services' yard-trash collection, transport and disposal from the Department sanitation permit, not expressly the occupational-license requirement. Section 50.23(C) makes contractors remove work residue, leaves owners ultimately responsible for removal and costs, and provides possible occupational-license loss after a second infraction. Section 50.05(J) separately requires insurance certificates from sanitation permittees. This is not a general tree-work insurance rule or an insurance waiver; the code-search finding is narrower.
Section 7.06.05.11(A) extends liability to persons or entities with legal, beneficial or equitable interests in the contributing facility or instrumentality and affected real property. Section 7.06.06(A) requires a contractor's "one year guarantee" on required plant material and replacement of material dying within that year. Section 7.06.02.04(D) also says "one year guarantee" but requires replacement for death "within the two years." The two periods are a published inconsistency, not a business promise.
Section 7.06.06(B) requires a joint city and contractor installation inspection arranged by the contractor. Subsection (C) permits rejection of noncompliant material and withholding occupancy until required plants are properly installed. Section 7.06.04.12(B)(1) requires immediate corrective action after a violation notice, completed within two working days of receipt or a longer city-allowed period. Paragraph (B)(2) provides an immediate stop work order to the owner and performing firm for a further violation, missed correction deadline or clearing, development or site alteration without a required tree permit. Subsection (A) allows withholding final occupancy for noncompliance, including tree-permit conditions, but itself refers to 7.05.06 rather than 7.06.05. Confirm grading, fill, demolition and clearing approvals for the actual project with Planning.
Appeals and variances
Section 7.06.07 routes appeals to Part 11.17.00. Section 11.01.05 instead routes Administrator-decision appeals to Article XII. Section 11.17.01(A) requires at least ten days' written hearing notice to applicant and Administrator. Section 11.17.05 gives the Administrator 15 days after receiving findings to consider adoption or Council referral and notify the applicant.
Section 11.17.07(B)(1) calls for a decision within 60 days of application, with agreed extension no later than six months after the first hearing. Section 11.17.06 provides Circuit Court review in Pasco County. Section 12.02.01 provides Board of Adjustment variances subject to its procedures and findings. These hearing and decision periods are not an established tree-appeal filing deadline; ask Planning to resolve the conflicting route and deadline rather than importing the airport rule.
How do you apply, and what does it cost?
Section 7.06.05.06(A) sets the application fee at $25 for residential parcels and $100 for all other parcels, plus applicable replacement fees, subject to the fee exceptions and qualifying state-law route. Account for the camphor fee exception and proven fatal utility-damage fee exception where their conditions are met. These are Ordinance No. 1513-26 figures; its exact effective calendar date remains unconfirmed because the adoption records and codified history differ.
The Forms page lists Tree Removal (Commercial) among online applications. It separately lists a "Tree Removal Permit Application." For those documents, the page directs form requests to the Planning Department at 813-780-0000 for fax or email delivery. It also directs requests for the current fee schedule to Planning. No current residential form or authenticated upload checklist was obtained, so no application fields are invented.
Use this sequence without assuming approval:
Confirm city jurisdiction, the individual or development route, and any claimed exemption.
Obtain the city-approved application and applicable sketch, survey, inventory, grading and preservation documents.
Confirm the portal route and any project-specific owner or agent authorization with Planning.
Await the decision and inspections, then comply with permit display, expiration, mitigation and planting conditions.
Section 7.06.05.06(E)(5) requires a city inspection before permit issuance. Paragraph (E)(6) requires inspection before tree removal. Paragraph (E)(7) requires permit display for 48 hours before and after removal. Paragraph (E)(8) says all tree permits expire within three months, with a new application and permit needed for later removal or expired-permit penalties. These clauses are nested under development, although the expiration clause expressly says all permits; confirm their application to an individual permit.
For the Planning Department office, the department page lists 813-780-0006. The office address is 5335 8th Street, Zephyrhills, FL 33542. Published hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The retrieved page supplies Contact Us links rather than a plain departmental email address.
Where do the guidance and code differ?
The public commercial catalog describes removal of trees "6 inches or greater in DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) on Non-Residential properties." That does not match the code's four-inch regulated-tree threshold; a catalog description is not an ordinance amendment. The commercial Apply route required sign-in, so authenticated fields and uploads were not verified.
Tampa's Preferred Tree List page shows a May 7, 2026 posted date. Zephyrhills expressly incorporates that city's list in its recommended-tree definition in Section 7.06.05.01. Its replacement definition specifies four-inch DBH for trees and ten-foot clear trunks for palms. Caliper, however, measures nursery-stock trunks six inches above ground. The operative replacement-installation paragraph uses four-inch caliper, not DBH; the incorporated list's exact edition is not specified.
Internal references that do not resolve cleanly
Section 7.06.05.04(A)(7) gives grades from 0, dead, to 5, excellent, using Appendix X. Section 7.06.07 publishes appendices A through C reserved, D for power-line trees, E for tree protection and F for poor drainage. No published Tree Grade Guidelines Appendix X was found in the whole-code search or the inspected city resources.
The root-pruning pointer in Section 7.06.05.06(E)(2)(a)(1)(b) names 7.06.05.05(B)(7). That names the grading section, not the actual root-pruning specifications in 7.06.05.04(B)(7). The fund-versus-replacement pointer, conflicting appeals, undefined Type D buffer and plant-survival periods are identified in their owning sections, not silently corrected.
Is the property inside or outside Zephyrhills?
The city's Maps and Demographics page offers a City Limits Map. Use the city's map and Planning to confirm jurisdiction rather than a Zephyrhills postal address. The Pasco County guide is regional parent reading, not authority inside the city; Pinellas city-or-county guidance is related reading only.
What about right-of-way trees and utility work?
Section 7.06.05.04(A)(1) makes owners responsible for private trees and trees in abutting rights-of-way. Section 7.06.05.07(A)(6) assigns required right-of-way work to Public Works determination, allows its Director or designee to act without a permit or arborist consultation for specified declining, damaged, dead or dangerous trees, and allows city pruning of private vegetation obstructing street lighting or public-safety visibility.
Section 7.06.05.06(E)(3)(g) requires the construction-property owner to pay permitting, contractor and other costs when construction needs off-site pruning or removal with the adjacent owner's consent, including right-of-way trees. Section 7.06.02.01(N) makes contractors restore construction-disturbed city right-of-way, including regrading and damaged vegetation. Section 130.05 prohibits planting trees or shrubbery on city property, including at streets and alleys.
What was not found in the reviewed code?
Whole-code searches on October 28, 2026 found no citation to Florida Statute 163.045, no published Appendix X tree-grade appendix, and no general private-tree pruning permit procedure distinct from damage or removal, grand-limb approval and TPP requirements. These are bounded code findings, not property-specific clearance.
No insurance requirement specifically governing tree work was found in the supplied code; sanitation-permittee insurance in Section 50.05(J) is separate, not proof of a tree-work insurance rule or a general insurance exemption. The tree-application provisions in Section 7.06.05.06 do not expressly list owner or association consent, an owner signature or proof of agent authorization as an application requirement; "any person" does not establish authority over another owner's tree. Neither finding waives private-property rights, adjacent-owner consent for off-site work, or signature and authorization requirements for related development, floodplain or other approvals.
What was searched for but not obtained?
City Forms, Planning, Land Development Code pages, the commercial catalog and CivicClerk records were checked October 28, 2026. A public residential form, authenticated uploads, a narrower residential grading instruction, a separate current fee schedule and Appendix X were not obtained; no city contact was made.
Where does this leave your tree or project?
A tree meeting the code's condition, foundation, construction or public-interest criteria may be a candidate for removal or pruning, but candidacy is not approval or a hazard determination. Take property, tree and plan decisions to the City of Zephyrhills Planning Department; this guide does not decide a specific tree's status.
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.
This guide is a regional reference resource, not an offer to perform work or assessments in Zephyrhills, which is outside our service area. For projects within our service area, our number is 727-934-5804.
Sources and scope
This reference uses the City of Zephyrhills Land Development Code, Part 7.06.00, Landscaping, the cited support provisions and Florida Statute 163.045. It distinguishes codified law from application guidance and leaves conflicting official wording visible.
Ordinance No. 1513-26, Section 9 states: "This Ordinance shall become effective upon passage on the second reading and signing by the Mayor." The February 9, 2026 minutes record unanimous approval on second reading.
The posted ordinance recites first-reading passage on January 26, 2026. It recites second-reading passage following a public hearing on February 9, 2026. It also recites the Mayor's approval on February 9, 2026. The codified editor's note in Section 7.06.00 instead says the replacement part was adopted February 20, 2026. It is not established whether the posted copy is the executed ordinance; the exact effective date remains unconfirmed.
This is a dated reading of published material, not a determination of a particular tree, parcel or project. For questions about the code discussed here, speak with our website agent, the chat on this page.