Tree Removal in Southwest Ranches, FL

Tree Removal in Southwest Ranches is a job on acreage almost every time. The town prohibits building homes on lots smaller than one acre, most properties are an acre or more, and many are small farms or horse ranches. There are generally no streetlights or sidewalks. With that much room, removals often involve several trees, long drags to the chipper and fence lines to work around, rather than one tree squeezed between two houses.

The town's tree permit

The Town of Southwest Ranches uses a Tree Removal, Relocation and Clearing Permit, and it treats invasive and native trees differently. Removing invasive, non-native trees needs an application and a tree survey showing the location of each invasive tree, with its botanical and common name. Removing or relocating protected native trees needs an application, a survey of those trees, and a landscape plan showing replacements or relocated trees. Surveys and plans for protected trees have to be prepared by a registered landscape architect or another person authorized under Chapter 481, Part II of the Florida Statutes.

The town's application also says to notify Broward County's Environmental Protection Department at 954-519-1414 before any tree removal. Once the town approves the application, the approved survey serves as the permit, and a final inspection is required if protected trees were involved.

A young town on the Everglades edge

Southwest Ranches incorporated on June 6, 2000, when residents voted to form their own town rather than be annexed by neighbors. It sits on the eastern edge of the Everglades, about 15 miles southwest of Fort Lauderdale, and is made up of three separate, non-contiguous areas covering about 13 square miles. The town has acquired seven open-space parks, and a former Everglades tree island in town was once a Tequesta burial site.

Typical Southwest Ranches work

• Clearing invasives such as Brazilian pepper, melaleuca and Australian pine from pasture edges
• Removing dead or storm-damaged trees across large lots
• Taking down trees near barns, stalls and riding rings
• Selective clearing for new structures, with the permit in place first
• Grinding stumps flush or below grade in pastures and along trails

Trails, rings and open space

The town has built miles of multiuse trails for riders, cyclists and walkers, and its one developed open-space park includes a schooling ring, a show ring and the Equestrian Oasis, an art installation that mainly supplies drinking water for horses. Trees along trails and fence lines on private property often get overlooked until a limb blocks the path or falls on a fence. A walk-through every year or two, looking for dead pines, split trunks and invasives crowding the fence, prevents most of those problems.

Working around animals and trails

Many properties have horses, and the town has miles of multiuse trails used by riders, cyclists and walkers. We ask owners to move animals out of the work area and we keep the site clean of chips and cut ends when we're done. Call (954) 314-3415 or send the form with a description of the trees and how many acres are involved. Get a free estimate