Tree Permits in Belleair, Belleair Bluffs, Belleair Beach & Belleair Shore

Which town am I in?

If you are not certain, look the parcel up on the Pinellas County Property Appraiser site and read the jurisdiction field. Then use the row below.

The Town of Belleair, in detail

§ 74-381: "On any real property within the limits of the town, it shall be unlawful for any person to remove or cause to be removed any protected tree without first having procured a permit."

A protected tree (§ 66-10) is any tree over four inches DBH not otherwise exempted; all mangroves; and all palms with at least 4.5 feet of clear trunk between ground level and the lowest branch. DBH is measured at 54 inches, and "In the case of a tree with multiple main stems, the diameter shall be the sum of the diameters of the stems." A clumping tree reaches four inches fast on that arithmetic.

There is no residential carve-out and no homestead exemption in Belleair. The Pinellas County 24-inch homesteaded threshold is a county rule for unincorporated property; it does not reach town limits.

A permit is not automatic. § 74-383(a)(2) requires the applicant to demonstrate one of six conditions, a permissible use cannot reasonably be undertaken otherwise; the tree materially impairs the safety, utility or structural integrity of a structure; it materially interferes with utility lines; it creates a substantial traffic or visibility hazard; it is diseased or weakened by infestation, abuse, storm, fire or any other cause and the weakened condition presents a threat to persons or property "as determined by the town manager or the designee of the town manager"; or a law requires removal.

Note that wording. Under the ordinance, the Town makes the hazard call, not your arborist. (State law can override that in a narrow set of cases, see below.)

Historic and specimen trees in Belleair are not size categories. They exist only where the Town Commission has designated them after a noticed public hearing (§ 74-383(c)), and removal of one requires a Commission finding, decided within 30 days of the application. The published code does not contain any published list of trees the Commission has actually designated, so we treat any large or old tree as potentially designated and confirm per address with the Building Department.

The canopy roads. § 74-386 adds protection within 50 feet of either side of four roadways, Indian Rocks Road from Belleview Boulevard south to the town limits; Belleview Boulevard from Druid Road east to Ft. Harrison Road; Druid Road from the Clearwater city limits south to Belleview Boulevard; and Bayview Drive from Manatee Road to Indian Rocks Road. Approved removals in those strips are replaced at one and a half times the DBH inches removed, and a palm removed from a canopy road must be replaced with a like variety in the same location.

Replacement is inch-for-inch (§ 74-383(b)(3)), or $50.00 per inch into the Town’s tree replacement fund per Appendix B. Replacement trees must be FDACS Nursery Grade No. 1, from the code’s approved list, live oak, laurel oak, sycamore, red cedar, pignut hickory, slash pine, bald cypress, southern magnolia, weeping elm among the large shade trees, with a 90-day survival obligation. Mitigation is waived entirely for a tree removed under the diseased/weakened ground at § 74-383(a)(2)e: no replacement and no fee.

Applying: the Town runs permits through an iWorq online portal, and contractors must register with a Florida license, liability insurance, workers' comp and photo ID. The Tree Removal Permit Checklist asks for a survey with the tree clearly marked, the reason, the type, the DBH, an arborist report if the tree is dead, diseased or causing structural issues, replacement if applicable, and a final building inspection with photos of the ground cleared after removal. That closeout photo set is a real scheduling item and we build it into the job.

On fees we have a conflict we will not paper over. The codified Appendix B lists a $89.00 permit administrative fee and $180.00 for after-the-fact permits; the Town’s own website fee page shows $25 / $50 (non-floodplain) and $250 (floodplain) and lists no after-the-fact fee. Both are Town sources and they do not agree. Call the Building Department at (727) 588-1477. And no routine turnaround time is published, the only clock in the code is the 30-day Commission decision on designated trees.

Penalties run through code enforcement rather than a tree-specific schedule: up to $250 per day and $500 per day for repeat violations before the special magistrate (§ 66-414), recordable as a lien superior to all other encumbrances except taxes and foreclosable after three months. And § 66-412(3) lets the inspector skip the cure period entirely where a violation is "irreparable or irreversible in nature", an illegally removed tree is irreversible by definition, so expect no grace period.

Frequently asked questions

I live in Belleair Bluffs. Do I follow this page? Only for the comparison. Belleair Bluffs adopts the Pinellas County ordinance as amended, so the county page is yours, including the county’s $150-per-inch penalty.

Belleair opted out of the county ordinance, right? It opted out of Ordinance No. 72-9, from 1972 (§ 2-114). The county’s current rules are Ordinance No. 26-3 from January 2026, which says a municipal ordinance prevails only "where these provisions conflict." Belleair’s own code is stricter at the low end, so the Town’s rules should control removal decisions in town, but neither government publishes whether the county administers its article inside Belleair, or whether a separate county permit is needed. Confirm with both before assuming one permit covers it.

My palms have a lot of clear trunk. Are they protected? In the Town of Belleair, yes, any palm with 4.5 feet or more of clear trunk is a protected tree. That is a different rule from Gulfport, where palms are entirely exempt, and from the county, where the trigger is height.

After a hurricane, can we just clear it? Not on assumption. § 74-382(b) lets the town manager suspend the tree regulations during a hurricane or disaster, it is discretionary and prospective, and The published code does not confirm it has ever been invoked or how it would be announced. Confirm with the Town that a suspension is actually in effect.

Verified against the Town of Belleair Code (Supp. No. 30, through Ord. No. 594), Belleair Bluffs § 102-118 (Supp. No. 18) and Belleair Beach § 66-31 (Supp. No. 24) as of July 2026. Ordinances change, if a detail matters to your decision, confirm the current text with the city first.

Call (727) 365-1803 and tell us the address, the first thing we do is establish which of the four governments you answer to. See also tree service in the Belleair towns and tree removal in Belleair.

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