St. Petersburg tree removal starts with one question the saw cannot answer: is this tree protected by city code? In St. Pete the answer is yes for most trees a homeowner would ever hire someone to remove, so the permit is part of the job, not an afterthought.
Tree Service Tampa FL is a free phone line, not a tree company. Call (689) 407-5379, describe the tree and where it stands, and the call is transferred to an independent, locally owned tree service company that does removals in St. Petersburg. That company looks at the tree, quotes, does the work and is paid directly by you. For the bigger picture on the city, its storms and its utility, see tree service in St. Petersburg; for removal in general, see tree removal.
Which trees the city protects
The city's Urban Forestry rules measure a tree by its trunk diameter at breast height, or DBH, taken 4.5 feet above the ground. A tape around the trunk divided by about 3.14 gives you a close number before anyone visits.
| Category | What it covers | What it means for removal |
|---|---|---|
| Protected | Any shade tree 4 inches DBH or larger; any understory tree 8 inches DBH or larger | City permit needed before removal |
| Grand | A code-protected tree 30 inches DBH or larger, except laurel oaks | Permit needed; trimming a branch 8 inches or thicker also needs one |
| Signature | Banyans; kapok trees 30 inches DBH or larger; jacarandas and royal poincianas 8 inches DBH or larger | Permit needed, even though these are non-native trees |
| Mangroves | Waterfront mangroves on canals and the bay | Handled by Pinellas County under its mangrove code, not by the city tree permit |
The laurel oak exception is the detail most owners miss. A laurel oak of protected size still needs a permit, but it can never reach Grand status. UF/IFAS describes laurel oak as a tree that often starts rotting inside at around 50 years, with hollow trunks and limbs common, and in hurricane surveys it stayed standing less often than live oak. Many of the large, tired oaks that St. Pete owners want gone are laurel oaks.
The city permit, step by step
- ApplyFile online through the city's Building Permit Portal, or email trees@stpete.org.
- Pay the inspection feeThe initial inspection is $25.
- Wait for the visitCity staff aim to inspect the tree within two weeks of that payment.
- Pay the permit feeFor a one or two unit home it is $25 after a satisfactory inspection; three or more units or non-residential property pay $45 for the first two trees and $10 for each additional tree.
- Post itPut the permit where it can be read from the street.
- Use it within six monthsA St. Petersburg tree removal permit is valid for six months.
Questions about whether your tree needs a permit can go to the city's Urban Forester at 727-893-4249. Ask the company you hire whether it will file the application or expects you to.
The arborist route under state law
Florida Statute 163.045 bars a city from requiring a permit, fee or replanting for a tree on a single-family home lot when the owner has documentation from an ISA certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect that the tree poses an unacceptable risk to people or property. In practice that is a written, signed onsite risk assessment.
St. Petersburg takes the paperwork seriously. The city says that if the documentation does not include both an onsite assessment and a signature, it cannot verify the exemption, and a notice of violation may follow. Keep a copy and be ready to show it. If you go this way, ask the company whether its arborist holds the ISA credential and look the number up yourself.
Skipping the permit costs more than the permit
A $25 inspection and a $25 permit are cheap. Taking a protected tree down without one is not. A 2022 city handout says after-the-fact permit fees, replacement requirements and fines depend on how big the trees were, how many came down and whether any protected trees remain on the lot. Its example: removing a 30 inch Grand tree from a residential lot without a permit could total up to $6,855, with $1,000 of that for the after-the-fact permit alone. The figures may have changed since, but the lesson has not.
Mangroves are a separate trap for canal and bayfront owners. Inside St. Petersburg, cutting or removing them is permitted through Pinellas County, and the county's mangrove code limits how far and how fast they may be cut. A company that offers to clear mangroves off a seawall without mentioning the county is a company to question.
Storm-damaged and salt-burned trees
After Helene's surge and Milton's wind, plenty of St. Pete owners are still deciding about trees that were hurt but did not fall. Two different problems are worth separating.
Wind damage
A cracked trunk, a root plate that lifted, or a big limb torn out of the crown are structural problems. A tree company or arborist can judge whether what is left is safe. If a broken tree is hanging over a roof, a car or a walkway, keep people out from under it and call.
Salt damage
Pinellas County Extension explained that soil soaked with seawater can dry out most trees and shrubs within 48 to 72 hours, and that rain dilutes the salt over time. Brown leaves after a surge do not always mean a dead tree. Extension can test soil for chloride for a $10 fee.
If a tree is down on a Duke Energy line, nothing else happens until the utility has made the line safe: call 911 if the line is down or anyone is hurt, then Duke Energy at 800.228.8485. Your homeowners policy may cover removal when a fallen tree damages an insured structure; the guide to free and covered tree removal explains what Florida regulators say about that.
The wood, the stump and the bill
A removal leaves logs, brush and a stump, and in St. Pete each has a rule. The city's Brush Sites take logs shorter than 5 feet and stumps lighter than 300 pounds from residents with proof of address. If a company hauls the debris there for you, the city wants you either at the site with the workers or signed onto its Brush Site Consent Form with them, and it refuses loads collected from more than one address. Most owners find it easier to have hauling written into the quote.
The stump usually costs extra. For a sense of what removal runs, Angi lists tree removal in Tampa at roughly $202 to $2,018, averaging about $757, and stump grinding is often priced separately; see stump grinding and the tree removal cost guide. Those are published figures, not prices from this line, and real quotes vary with the tree, the access and the cleanup.
Ask before you agree
- Is the tree Protected, Grand, Signature or none of those, and who files the permit?
- If you are using the state arborist exemption, whose name and ISA number goes on the assessment?
- Does the price include hauling, and where will the wood go?
- Is the stump ground, and how deep?
- Can you send a certificate of insurance from your agent before the work starts?
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 the free line works for a St. Pete removal
- 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.