Looking for tree service in Clearwater means dealing with three local facts at once: a city permit that covers most trees and many palms, a coastline that took a record storm surge in 2024, and a trash rule that puts tree company debris on the tree company. This page walks through each one.
Tree Service Tampa FL is not a tree company and sends no one out. It is a free phone line. Call (689) 407-5379, tell the automated assistant you are in Clearwater and what the tree is doing, and the call is transferred to an independent, locally owned tree service company that works in your part of Pinellas County. That company looks at the tree, quotes its own price and is paid by you directly.
City limits first
Clearwater is an incorporated city, and inside its limits the City of Clearwater, not Pinellas County, decides which trees may come down. The catch is that a Clearwater address and the City of Clearwater are not always the same thing. The city's own tree permit checklist tells applicants to look the property up on the Pinellas County Property Appraiser website to confirm it sits inside city limits.
If the parcel turns out to be in unincorporated Pinellas, the county's tree code applies. That code, in Chapter 58 of the County Code, has been in effect since January 23, 2026, and on homesteaded single-family lots it protects only trees larger than 24 inches in diameter. County tree permit questions go to (727) 464-3480. The Tampa Bay tree permit guide compares the county rules in more depth.
How Clearwater's tree permit works
The rules sit in Division 12 of the city's Community Development Code, which aims to keep and grow the tree canopy.
- Check whether the tree is protectedAny nonhazardous tree measuring 4 inches or more at breast height is protected, and so is any palm with a 10 foot clear, straight trunk. Removing one takes a permit.
- Decide who appliesThe city calls hiring an ISA certified arborist and an insured contractor highly recommended, and says those contractors can pull the permit. Online filing requires the tree service to hold a Clearwater Business Tax Receipt and its own account in the city's permit system.
- Owner filing, if you go that wayA homeowner may secure the permit, but the city notes the owner then takes on more liability. Owners bring proof of homestead or primary residency to Planning and Development at 100 South Myrtle Avenue.
- Inspection and the clockThe city lists a $15 fee for one to five trees and $3 per extra tree. A city arborist inspects within 1 to 3 business days, and an approved removal must be carried out within six months.
- Construction is differentTrees coming out as part of a building project go through the Building Construction Permit process, not the standalone tree permit.
For a single-family home, Florida Statute 163.045 adds one more path: when an ISA certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect documents that a tree poses an unacceptable risk to people or property, the city cannot require a permit, a fee or a replacement tree for it. Ask any company you are considering whether it has an arborist who can prepare that kind of assessment, and keep a copy.
What Clearwater homeowners usually call about
Most calls come down to a handful of jobs. A laurel oak that has started to hollow out. A palm whose old fronds hang over the pool cage. A limb reaching across the service wire. A stump left behind after a storm. Here is how each one meets the city's rules.
| The job | Permit question to ask | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Taking down a healthy oak or pine of 4 inches or more | Protected under the city code; a removal permit is needed | Tree removal |
| Taking down a tall palm | A palm with 10 feet of clear trunk is protected; a shorter one may not be | Palm tree trimming |
| Clearing brown fronds or thinning a canopy | The permit rule above covers removal; ask the company what the city expects for heavy pruning | Tree trimming |
| A tree hanging over the street from the city strip | It may be a city tree; report it through the city's problem tree page | Free tree removal guide |
| Grinding the stump after a removal | Usually priced separately from the removal | Stump grinding |
Palm work is where Clearwater yards differ most from inland ones. UF/IFAS advises taking off only fronds that are completely brown and never cutting green fronds above horizontal. A palm stripped to a few fronds on top is weaker in wind, not safer. In UF/IFAS hurricane surveys, cabbage palms held up better than queen palms and Washingtonia palms, and live oaks stood far more often than laurel oaks.
Helene's surge and Milton's wind
On the night of September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene pushed the water at the Clearwater Beach tide gauge to 6.67 feet above mean higher high water, according to the National Weather Service. The old record there was 4.02 feet, set by the 1993 Storm of the Century. Along the rest of coastal Pinellas the peak ran roughly 4 to 7 feet.
Two weeks later, Hurricane Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay on October 9, 2024, as a Category 3 storm, and the National Hurricane Center's report placed hurricane conditions from Clearwater Beach and Tampa southward. Fox 13 reported that about 70 percent of Pinellas County lost power, with officials warning of downed lines and trees across the roads.
- 6.67 ftHelene's peak water level at Clearwater Beach, a new site record
- 4.02 ftThe record it broke, from March 1993
- About 70%Share of Pinellas County without power after Milton, per Fox 13
Salt water is the quieter half of that story. UF/IFAS Extension in Pinellas County notes that Gulf and bay water holds roughly 35,000 to 38,000 parts per million of chloride, enough to dry out most landscape plants within two or three days of flooding. Trees in surge-flooded yards near the water can look fine for a while and then decline. If an oak or palm in a low Clearwater yard has been thinning since 2024, have a company with an arborist look at it before the next hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30.
Yard waste: what the city takes and what it does not
Clearwater collects yard waste and bulky items once a week on your regular service day. The city's rules are specific enough to plan around:
The city picks up
- Limbs and brush you cut yourself, in 4 foot lengths and bundled.
- Leaves and clippings boxed or bagged, each one 50 pounds or less.
- Up to 40 cubic yards a year from a single-family home.
- Piles set out no more than 24 hours early and at the curb by 7 a.m.
The city leaves behind
- Debris cut by a tree company or landscaper, which that company must remove.
- Piles under wires or against poles, mailboxes, trees or parked cars.
- Yard waste mixed with junk or other trash.
That first point on the right matters most when you hire. Under city ordinance, the company that cuts the tree hauls the wood. A quote that leaves the logs at the curb leaves you with a pile the city will not take. For very large piles of your own, the city asks residents to call Solid Waste at (727) 562-4920.
After the 2024 storms the rules bent for a while. A city official told Bay News 9 that hurricane debris pickup could take up to three months, and the city opened an extra drop-off at Woodgate Park on Countryside Boulevard from October 19 to November 2, 2024. The city's storm debris page asks residents to sort curbside piles into vegetation, construction debris, appliances and hazardous waste, and to keep them clear of hydrants, poles and water meters.
Power lines: Duke Energy territory
Duke Energy Florida serves almost all of Pinellas County, and it serves Clearwater. The city's franchise with Duke expired in December 2025 and the city studied running its own electric utility, but the city council voted 5 to 0 in July 2026 to move ahead with a new 30-year franchise with Duke, and Bay News 9 reported in August 2026 that the city had renewed the contract. Tampa Electric serves some parts of Pinellas, such as Oldsmar, so if you are unsure, your bill shows which utility is yours.
Duke says it prunes and removes trees along its lines, and asks people to call by phone when a tree is on a primary line. It also says that after a storm, clearing the tree debris on your property is your job, not its job.
- Treat every wire on the ground as live, and keep children and pets well back.
- Call 911 if a line is down or someone is hurt.
- Report it to Duke Energy at 800.228.8485, or text OUT to 57801.
- Take photos from a safe distance for your insurer, and leave every limb on a wire to the utility.
Hiring in Clearwater: five questions
- Does the company hold a Clearwater Business Tax Receipt?It needs one to file a tree permit online with the city.
- Who pulls the permit?Get it in writing. The city prefers that the contractor does.
- Is hauling included?City trucks will not take what a company cuts.
- Is the stump in the price?Grinding is often a separate line.
- Who is the arborist?Get the ISA certification number and check it.
Published price ranges for removal and trimming, and what pushes a quote up or down, are in the tree removal cost guide and the tree trimming cost guide. Real quotes vary with the tree, the access and the cleanup.
Check the company yourself. Florida has no statewide license for tree trimming or tree removal, so a truck and a business card prove very little. Ask the company for a certificate of general liability insurance sent by its insurance agent, proof of workers' compensation coverage, and the ISA certification number of its arborist. A company that sprays or treats trees for hire needs a pesticide license from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. You can confirm an ISA certification with the ISA's credential lookup (opens in a new tab).
Not sure what the tree needs? Call and describe it. The company you are put through to looks at the tree and tells you the price before any work starts.
How a Clearwater call works
- Call any hourAn automated assistant answers (689) 407-5379 and asks what kind of tree work you need.
- Describe the jobGive your name, a callback number, your city or ZIP and what the tree is doing, including anything on a roof, a car or a line.
- Get put throughThe call goes to an independent, locally owned tree service company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with them directlyThat company looks at the tree, quotes, does the work and is paid by you. If it cannot answer, it gets your details to call back.
How this line works: Tree Service Tampa FL is a free phone line, not a tree service company. It does not trim, remove, quote or schedule tree work and holds no license or arborist certification. Calls are transferred to independent, locally owned tree service companies in the Tampa Bay area. Those companies may pay Tree Service Tampa FL a referral fee. You never pay the line. How it works.