Emergency Tree Cutting in Miami-Dade County, FL

Tree problems in Miami-Dade County, FL that call for emergency tree cutting

1. 1

   The state exemption for dangerous trees

   Florida Statute 163.045 overrides local permit rules for one situation: a single-family detached home where the owner has documentation, from an ISA-certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect using ISA tree risk assessment procedures, that a tree poses an unacceptable risk. Then the county or city can't require a permit, fee, mitigation or replanting.

2. 2

   When pruning becomes illegal removal

   Miami-Dade treats hatracking, topping and other excessive pruning that effectively destroys a tree as removal without a permit, and root cutting or girdling counts too. Selective pruning done to the ANSI A300 standard doesn't need a permit. If a trimmer offers to cut a black olive or mahogany down to stubs for hurricane season, decline: it's both harmful and a code violation.

3. 3

   Right-of-way trees and swale areas

   Trees in the swale between the sidewalk and street are in the public right-of-way. Report problems, including a right-of-way tree damaging your house or driveway, to the county or your city rather than removing it; DERM helps determine whether a right-of-way tree is damaging a single-family property. Removing a public tree without permission can bring fines.

4. 4

   Hurricanes and limestone soil

   Much of Miami-Dade sits on limestone with shallow soil, so trees root shallowly and wide. Combine that with dense crowns and hurricane winds, and uprooting is common. Thin crowns before June, keep palms cleaned of coconuts and dead fronds, and have trees with lean or decay assessed early. After a storm, see [storm damage tree removal in Florida](/services/storm-damage-tree-removal/florida/).