Permits and jurisdiction
Do I need a permit to remove a tree?
Inside the City of Longwood, owner-occupied single-family dwellings are exempt from the tree protection requirements and do not need a tree removal permit — the City's own FAQ says so. Otherwise LDC 3.5.5 requires a permit for removal, replacement or alteration of trees.
Why an HVAC site answers this
Canopy is a condenser problem here
This site is an air conditioning site, so the reason this question is here is worth stating plainly: Longwood and the surrounding Wekiva-area subdivisions sit under mature oak and pine, and a shaded, leaf-fouled condenser with restricted clearance is one of the most routine local findings. Shade sounds like it helps a condenser. In practice a crown that shades a unit also fills it with leaf litter and pollen, and a fouled coil raises head pressure until something else fails.
For an owner-occupant inside the city, the City's exemption means the limbs over your condenser can be cut back without a City tree permit. That is a genuinely Longwood-specific answer — it does not follow from any state rule, and it does not apply to non-owner-occupied or non-single-family property.
Before you call a tree service
Three things the exemption does not cover
Three cautions. First, the exemption is the City's, so it applies inside the city limits — and much of what carries a Longwood mailing address is not inside them. Everything west of I-4 and all of ZIP 32779 is unincorporated Seminole County, with the county's rules. Check which you are.
Second, a homeowners' association may have its own tree and landscape rules regardless of what the City requires. Those are contractual rather than regulatory, and the association enforces them. HOA authority, and its limits.
Third, clearance around a condenser is not only about the crown above it. Vegetation grown in close to the cabinet restricts the airflow the unit depends on. Clearing shrubs back is usually the cheaper half of the same job.
Sources
- City of Longwood FAQ: “Do I need a permit to remove a tree?”. https://longwoodfl.org/FAQ.aspx?QID=163
- City of Longwood FAQ: “Is my address/parcel located within the City of Longwood City limits?”. https://www.longwoodfl.org/Faq.aspx?QID=159
- Seminole County Property Appraiser — parcel search and GIS, the way to confirm whether a Longwood-address parcel is inside the city limits. https://www.scpafl.org/
- Seminole County Building Division. https://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/departments-services/development-services/building
- Seminole County Property Appraiser CAMA extract (Parcels.csv, dated 5 September 2026), tax district L1 — Longwood; improved residential parcels, DOR codes 01 and 04. https://www.scpafl.org/
Figures are dated. Permit fees, rebate amounts and code cycles change — re-check the primary source before you rely on a number here.
Ask us what clearance your unit needs
It is on the equipment's own installation data, and it is usually more than the shrubs currently allow.