Working on Trees in a Historic District

The mature canopy in the historic districts across Volusia and Seminole is protected for good reason, and the permitting around it catches people out.

Assume you need a permit

Most jurisdictions in this region regulate the removal of trees over a certain size, and many have additional protection for specimen trees, heritage trees and anything within a designated historic district. Some regulate significant pruning as well as removal.

Removing a protected tree without a permit typically means a fine plus a replacement requirement, and in some cases the replacement obligation is substantial.

Check with the local jurisdiction before anything is cut. A contractor who tells you a permit is not needed without checking is not the one who pays the fine.

What a permit application usually needs

• A site plan showing the tree's location.
• Species and trunk diameter at standard height.
• The reason for removal.
• Frequently an arborist's report supporting the application, particularly where the reason is condition rather than construction.
• Sometimes a replacement or mitigation plan.

Emergency and hazard exemptions

Most codes have a provision for genuinely hazardous trees and for storm emergencies, but they usually require documentation — photographs, and often an arborist's assessment — either before removal or immediately after.

Do not assume an exemption applies. Document the condition thoroughly before anything comes down, because after the fact there is nothing left to assess.

Preservation is usually the better answer anyway

In these districts the trees are frequently the most valuable feature of the property. A century-old live oak that is structurally sound is worth keeping and worth spending money on — structural pruning, cabling a specific correctable defect, root zone protection, and deadwood removal before storm season.

Most of the mature oaks we are asked to assess in historic districts turn out to be sound and worth retaining. The ones that are not have identifiable defects, and those are exactly the ones a permit office will accept a report on.

During construction and renovation

The most common way historic-district trees are lost is not removal — it is root zone damage during work, followed by decline three to five years later. A protection plan before the equipment arrives is far cheaper than losing the tree.

We do assessments and permit reports across Volusia, Seminole and north Brevard.