Tree Removal in Coral Springs, FL

Tree Removal in Coral Springs is unusual in one good way: the city's residential tree removal permit costs nothing. Owners of single-family homes and duplexes need that permit before removing a canopy tree or a palm, and it is applied for through the city's eTrakit portal or on a paper form dropped off at City Hall on West Sample Road. Multi-family and commercial properties go through a separate commercial permit with the Building Division.

The application needs a survey or a simple sketch showing where the tree is, its species and trunk diameter, and where the replacement will go, with its species and size. If you live in an HOA community, which describes much of the city, the association's approval has to be attached. We give you the measurements and species names during our visit so the sketch is quick to put together.

Replacement is like for like

Coral Springs expects removed trees to be replaced within six months of permit approval: shade tree for shade tree, palm for palm, small tree for small tree. Three separate palms can count as one hardwood. If the stump is in the spot where you want the new tree, we grind it deep and clear the chips so the planting hole is clean.

A planned city with long memories of 2005

Coral Springs was chartered in 1963 and master-planned by Coral Ridge Properties, which set strict landscaping and sign rules that the city still enforces. The land was marsh drained after the 1947 floods and later used for beans and cattle, so most of the soil is sand and fill over a shallow water table. When Hurricane Wilma's eye passed directly over the city in October 2005, the damage to trees was severe; the city estimated it lost about a third of its tree canopy across the 2004-2005 storms.

That history explains a lot about what we see today. Many yards were replanted in 2006 and 2007, and those replacement oaks, mahoganies and palms are now 20 years old and often too big for where they were put. Others were planted to replace failed trees and never had proper structural pruning, so they carry weak, tight forks.

Common Coral Springs requests

• Removing a tree lifting a driveway or front walk
• Taking down palms crowding a screen enclosure
• Removing declining trees that never recovered from storm damage
• Grinding stumps ahead of the six-month replacement planting
• Clearing trees along rear canals and lake banks

Choosing where the replacement goes

Because Coral Springs requires a like-for-like replacement, the new tree's location matters as much as the old one's removal. FPL's Right Tree, Right Place guidance says large trees that reach 50 feet or more, such as oaks, should be planted at least 50 feet from power lines, and medium trees of 14 to 49 feet at least 30 feet away. Large palms need their maximum frond length plus 20 feet. On a typical Coral Springs lot with a line along the rear easement, that often means the replacement shade tree goes in the front yard and a smaller species goes in back. We'll mark a good spot on the sketch you submit with the permit.

The city has more than 50 parks on over 675 acres, and its 38-acre Sandy Ridge Sanctuary is a reminder of what the native pine and scrub landscape looked like. Most households here are families; only 13% of residents are 65 or older. Call (954) 314-3415 or use the form to schedule a free estimate. Get a free estimate