4.9 · 462 Google reviews · Licensed & Insured
Tree & Palm Removal in Madeira Beach
Canal-front and John's Pass removals staged around seawalls, docks and walkways. Crane picks and grapple-truck haul-away. (727) 365-1803.
“Steven was great, him and his crew got out early and was here all day taking out my four laurel oaks for me. Start to finish it was a pleasure working with happy tree service. The speed and efficiency of the work was fantastic.”
- 462 Google reviews
- Licensed & Insured
- ISA Certified Arborist on staff
- Pinellas since 1989
Madeira Beach is rebuilding. Between the Tom Stuart Causeway and John’s Pass, a large number of properties are being elevated, gutted, extended or replaced outright, and every one of those projects eventually meets a tree.
Here is the part that catches people: on a construction job, the expensive question is not removing the tree. It is replacing it.
How the county prices a construction removal
Pinellas County’s tree code grades every protected tree on a 0–3 scale, and the grade decides both whether you can remove it and what you owe afterwards.
Grade 0 (Poor)
dead, dying, or a nuisance/invasive species. Removable with an approved permit, no replant trees required.
Grade 1 (Fair)
removable with a permit, replants required.
Grade 2 (Good)
removable with a permit only where the tree interferes with proposed or existing improvements or utilities, or threatens public health and safety as verified by county staff. Replants required.
Grade 3 (Excellent)
the most restrictive. Includes native trees in excellent condition, historically significant trees, rare species, and, importantly for a construction budget, hardwoods over 36 inches DBH and softwoods over 20 inches DBH that would otherwise grade 2.
The replant obligation scales with both grade and size. A tree between 14 and 24 inches DBH costs 2 replants at Grade 1, 4 at Grade 2, and 6 at Grade 3. Over 34 inches, it runs to 12 replant trees for a single Grade 3 removal. Replants have their own specification: minimum 1.5 inches DBH per stem, six feet tall, Florida Grade No. 1 or better, at least 60 percent native species, and no more than 25 percent palms.
There is one carve-out worth knowing: trees whose trunks fall inside the proposed building footprint are exempt from the replant requirement where impacts are unavoidable and there is no feasible alternative. That is an exemption from replanting only, not from the permit.
For context, the county’s own application fees are modest, $50 on an existing single-family lot, $290 commercial or multi-family, invasive verification free, and its tree-bank in-lieu rate is not published anywhere official; where a fund contribution is on the table, the number comes in writing from treepermit@pinellas.gov, (727) 464-3480.
And here is the part that matters in Madeira Beach: that county framework is not the law inside city limits. Sec. 106-67 of the city code says it in one sentence, "County tree regulations shall not be applicable to real estate within the city limits of the city." The city runs its own, simpler system: a no-fee permit before removing any tree of 4 inches DBH or greater (Sec. 106-69(a)); mangroves of any size requiring city, county and state permits together (Sec. 106-69(b)); seven exempt exotics, punk, Brazilian pepper, Australian pine, chinaberry, ear tree, eucalyptus, silk oak (Sec. 106-64); and replacement trees at a minimum 8 feet tall, nursery grade No. 1, scaled to lot size (Secs. 106-71–106-72). There is no dead-tree exemption in the city code, and unpermitted removal runs to $500 and 60 days, each day a separate offense (Sec. 1-16). Permits go through the Building Department, (727) 391-9951. The full walk-through: Madeira Beach tree permits.
Get this priced before demolition, not after. An after-the-fact removal is $150 per DBH inch into the county tree bank, plus the replant obligation on top, and the liability is joint and several between the owner and the contractor who did the cutting.
A useful credit almost nobody claims
The code also runs the other way. Removing nuisance and invasive species earns tree credits against your replant obligation, one credit at 4–14 inches, two at 14.1–24 inches, and more above. On a barrier island that means the Australian pine and Brazilian pepper on the back line are not just a liability; cleared properly, they reduce what a permitted removal costs you elsewhere on the site. The catch in the code is that invasives removed under this provision must be maintained to prevent regrowth.
Start here
Send us a photo of the tree.
You do not have to know whether it needs to come down. That is the part we are for.
- One photo, whole tree in frameTrunk base to top. A close-up of anything that looks wrong helps.
- Text us the photoThe text button below opens the right thread. Add your street and city.
- We come out and lookEvery estimate is in person, free, sometimes the answer is that it needs nothing.
The practical side
Island lots, no rear access, and a causeway between us and the yard. Removals here are crane-and-rigging work with the debris going out the front, and A crane is part of how we take down the technical trees.
The mangrove fringe along the Intracoastal side is regulated separately, under the county’s mangrove article and the state mangrove act. F.S. § 163.045 does not reach it, and neither does a building permit.
Free estimate
(727) 365-1803. ISA Certified Arborist on staff, including for the applicant-side tree rating assessment the county code expressly allows.
Frequently asked questions
I’m elevating my house. Can I just take the trees out? Not without a permit, and not without knowing what the replant schedule will cost. Trees inside the proposed building footprint are exempt from replanting where impacts are genuinely unavoidable; trees outside it are not. Getting the grades assessed early is what keeps this from becoming a surprise.
Who decides what grade my tree is? County staff, but the code expressly allows an applicant to submit their own tree rating assessment, prepared at their own expense by a qualified professional, with the county making the final determination. An ISA Certified Arborist meets the code’s definition of a qualified professional. We can prepare that assessment.
We have Australian pines along the back. Are they a problem? They are brittle, they are invasive, and under the county’s schedule removing them earns tree credits rather than costing replants. Done properly, clearing them can offset part of the obligation from a removal elsewhere on the property.
What happens if a tree comes out and nobody pulled a permit? $150 per DBH inch into the tree bank, replant requirements still apply, and liability is joint and several between the property owner and the contractor. The county’s code also lets it withhold other permits on a site with an unresolved violation, which on a live construction job is the part that actually hurts.
Google reviews
Rated 4.9 by 462 of your neighbors.
Reviews · Tree & Palm Removal in Madeira Beach
4.9
462 reviews on Google, the count on our public Google listing
“We were looking for a tree service with a certified arborist. We got just what we needed with Happy Tree Service. Steve gave an estimate and knowledgeable advice. They arrived on time did an excellent job and cleaned up all debris. We recommend them and will use them again.”
“Happy trees did an amazing job cutting my trees and providing information. Steve was really nice and knowledgeable. Great communication and pricing. Definitely will be using their service again!!”
Every one of these lives on our public Google listing, where we cannot edit or delete a word. Read them all on Google →