Maintenance requirements.
Coral Springs Land Development Code § 250835
in effectSec. 250835. - Maintenance requirements.
All owners of land or their agents shall be responsible for the maintenance of all landscaping. This includes mowing and maintaining abutting rights-of-way, swales, lakes and canal banks. Landscaping shall be maintained in a good condition so as to present a healthy, neat and orderly appearance at least equal to the original installation and shall be mowed or trimmed in a manner and at a frequency so as not to detract from the appearance of the general area. Landscaping shall be maintained to minimize property damage and public safety hazards, including removal of living, dead or decaying plant material, removal of low hanging branches and those obstructing street lighting and maintenance of sight distance standards as set forth herein.
Dead or declining plant material considered to be part of a natural habitat feature located on public property are exempt from these landscaped maintenance provisions except where maintenance is necessary to avoid damage to public property or to mitigate safety hazards. Any necessary tree pruning must conform to ANSI A-300 standards. Tree removal may require a tree removal permit as described in Section 212 of the Coral Springs Land Development Code.
A. (1)
All persons providing landscape maintenance services for hire (including city maintenance operations staff, and institutional landscape workers) shall perform their work in accordance with the recommendations in the Florida-Friendly Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources by the Green Industries.
(a) Within one (1) year of the effective date of this ordinance, any person that applies fertilizer either for hire, in the course of their employment with the City of Coral Springs, or on city properties shall attend training in the Florida-friendly Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources by the Green Industries.
(b) All persons applying fertilizer either for hire, in the course of their employment with the City of Coral Springs, or on city properties must possess a current Certificate of Completion in the Florida-friendly Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources by the Green Industries on any job site while work is in progress.
Landscaping shall be maintained in accordance with the following standards:
B. (1)
Insects, disease, etc.: Landscaping shall be kept shall be kept free of visible signs of insects and disease and appropriately irrigated and fertilized to enable landscaping to be in a healthy condition.
(2) Mulching: Three (3) inches of clean, weed-free, approved organic mulch shall be maintained over all areas originally mulched at all times until landscaped area matures to one hundred (100) per cent coverage. The use of heat-treated mulch obtained from Melaleuca, Eucalyptus, or other invasive plant species is encouraged in order to reduce their impact on the environment and to preserve the remaining native plant communities. For this reason, the use of Cypress mulch is strongly discouraged. Mulch is not required in annual beds. Mulch rings should extend to at least three (3) feet around freestanding trees and shrubs. All mulch should be renewed periodically. Mulches should be kept at least six (6) inches away from any portion of a building or structure, or the trunks of trees, and at least three (3) inches away from the base of shrubs. Plastic sheeting and other impervious materials shall not be used under mulched areas.
(3) Turf edge trimming: All roadways, curbs and sidewalks shall be edged to prevent encroachment from the adjacent turfed areas. Line trimmers shall not be used to trim turf abutting trees or other plant material.
(4) In no case shall grass clippings, vegetative material, and/or vegetative debris either intentionally or accidentally, be washed, swept, or blown off into stormwater drains, ditches, conveyances, water bodies, wetlands, or sidewalks or roadways.
(5) Yard wastes shall not be disposed of or stored by shorelines, in ditches or swales, or near storm drains. Yard waste/compost sites must be hidden from street view, maintained to prevent odor, and be free of weeds.
(6) Turfgrass clippings should be left on the lawn to replace nutrients. Shredded yard clippings and leaves should be used for mulch or be composted for use as fertilizer. However, diseased material should not be mulched and should be properly disposed of to avoid spreading disease.
(7) Proper composting of yard wastes (see Landscape Manual) provides many benefits and is strongly encouraged.
(8) Control of nuisance species: All areas developed after the effective date of this ordinance shall be maintained free of nuisance species. Preserved areas as defined in section 250832.47.a. through c. shall be maintained as close to the original preserved state as possible.
(9) Tree removal: Commercial and multi-family properties require an approved tree permit as described in section 212 of the Coral Springs Land Development Code prior to removing any trees.
Single-family properties require a no cost tree permit prior to the removal of a tree from their property. Plants that were originally planted as hedges for privacy or screening purposes but then not maintained as a hedge but allowed to grow excessively tall are not considered to be trees for the purposes of permitting. The same applies to clumping or clustering palms, bamboo, etc that are planted for the purpose of privacy or screening. The permit application will consist of:
(a) A permit application available from the development services department;
(b) A survey or sketch of the property showing the approximate location of the tree(s) to be removed;
(c) Common name of each tree to be removed;
(d) The diameter measurement of the tree(s) to be removed measured four and one-half (4½) feet above the ground;
(e) Location, quantity, species and size of required replacement planting(s) as described in the landscape manual available at the development services department; and
(f) A brief description of the reason for removal. Acceptable reasons for tree removal will include:
(a) The tree is a nuisance tree as defined in this section;
(b) The tree is diseased, injured or destructively damaged;
(c) The tree is in danger of materially impairing the structural integrity of existing or proposed structures, interferes with utility service, or adversely affects sight distance triangles and any other remedies (i.e., root pruning, pruning, relocation, etc.) will result in irreparable damage to the tree;
(d) The tree is required to be cut down, destroyed, removed or relocated by a county, state or federal law, or by rules promulgated by a county, state or federal agency.
(10) Trees that qualify as specimen trees as defined in this section require a tree removal permit as described in section 212 of the City of Coral Springs Land Development Code.
(11) Any non-specimen trees approved for removal will have to be replaced with an appropriate tree unless the removed tree was in excess of the minimum landscape requirements.
(12) In the result of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, the city manager, or their designee, can suspend the tree permitting requirement.
(13) Trees that pose an imminent safety hazard and must be removed immediately should be photographed showing the nature and extent of the hazard and submitted with a permit application for after the fact approval.
(14) Stump removal: The removal of a tree shall include the complete removal and grinding of the stump and associated roots systems to the greatest extent possible.
(15) Replacement requirements: An owner is responsible to ensure that living material and trees which are required to be planted by this subsection of the code or are installed pursuant to a landscape code previously in effect, are replaced with Florida-Friendly plant species that will be at least equivalent in size at maturity if such living material or trees die, or are irreversibly abused, following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. Preserved vegetation which dies following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy shall be replaced with equivalent living material or trees. Nuisance tree species shall not be replaced in kind, but shall be replaced with a similar Florida-Friendly plant species approved by the city. Developed single-family properties need not replace nuisance trees provided that they meet the minimum landscape requirements for their zoning district without them.
(16) Removal of root systems: Removal of root systems which show evidence of destroying public or private property is required. The removal of the root systems or any root pruning must be done so as to not irreparably damage the tree or create a safety hazard.
(17) Tree abuse: Tree abuse, as defined in section 250832(68), is prohibited in the city. Abused trees shall not be counted toward fulfilling minimum landscape requirements and shall be replaced.
The owner of an abused tree can provide the city manager, or their designee, with written documentation from an arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture or other qualifying organization stating that the degree of abuse is not sufficient to warrant the removal of the abused tree. The arborist's opinion must include a description of the proposed remedial pruning and a timeline for the proposed pruning. After reviewing the arborist's opinion, the city manager, or his designee, can agree to allow the tree to remain. If the abused tree is allowed to remain, it is the property owner's responsibility to follow through with any necessary corrective pruning or maintenance in a timely manner so as not to allow the tree to develop into a hazardous tree.
(18) Tree pruning:
(a) All property owners or their agents must prune trees in accordance with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI A-300). If the pruning is tree abuse and causes tree removal, a permit for tree removal shall be required from the city pursuant to Land Development Code Chapter 212.
(b) Any pruning performed without conformance to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI A-300) shall be subject to enforcement by the city. All tree trimmers who provide services in Coral Springs shall hold a valid business tax receipt in Broward County as well as a valid Broward County tree trimmer license.
(c) The practice of topiary pruning shade trees by shearing or trimming a tree into an unnatural shape, such as round like a lollipop is prohibited. Trees pruned in this manner will not be counted towards fulfilling the minimum landscape requirements outlined elsewhere in this chapter.
(d) Emergencies: Failure to remove or properly prune a tree damaged by a natural disaster within a reasonable period of time corresponding to the severity of the disaster as determined by the city manager shall be a violation.
(e) Tree pruning standards applied to utilities: The Hazard Pruning Standards and the Crown Reduction Standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI A-300), as may be amended from time to time, apply to utility companies.
(19) Pruning exemptions: The removal of diseased or dead portions (such as palm fronds) of a tree or the removal of an interfering, obstructing or weak branch of a tree such that the result is a tree which is not a threat to public safety or to adjacent property is allowed. Pruning to reduce or eliminate interference with or obstruction of street lights, stop signs or traffic signals is an example of an allowed pruning activity, provided tree abuse does not occur.
(Ord. No. 95-038, § 22, 6-20-95; Ord. No. 2011-117, § 2, 7-5-11; Ord. No. 2023-101, § 180, 4-19-23)
Source: City of Coral Springs, Florida, Code of Ordinances, Charter and Land Development Code (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/fl/coral_springs/codes/land_development_code?nodeId=CH25ZOOR_ARTIXMILARE_S250835MAREFetched: 11/8/2026