Tree Advocates Warn Against Cutting Budget for City's Prized Canopy

City officials say the canopy will still be maintained and new trees will be planted where space allows. But new state rules have gutted the ability of city officials to prevent tree removals

Sept. 24, 2026

By Beth Kassab

Winter Park City Commissioners on Wednesday gave final approval to a total $247 million budget, set to begin Oct. 1, including reductions totaling about $500,000 as the city begins to brace for the potential impact of a November ballot amendment that could significantly reduce property tax revenue if it’s approved by at least 60% of voters.

Reductions to a program to plant new trees and the elimination of a permit process meant to dissuade people from removing mature trees generated the most debate during the hearing, with residents speaking out against any changes that could reduce Winter Park’s celebrated tree canopy, considered a key ingredient of the city’s village-like charm.

“I witnessed a decline in birds and wildlife due to the loss of mature trees in my neighborhood near Lakemont Elementary School,” Cynthia Newton Edmonds told the commission. “At one time, I had a pileated woodpecker family of five in my yard. Now I rarely see one bird. Screech owls used to nest in my yard … They raised broods of owlets, and they are now gone. … One of my neighbors had 26 raccoons relocate to her backyard when the five acres on Lakemont Avenue at the end of Windsor Drive were razed for the development of a new church and townhomes … I have had two gopher tortoises come to my yard, fleeing the clearing of property … The trend seems to be everything’s cut down on the lot … We must protect our mature trees and our tree canopy.”

Members of the Winter Park Land Trust, a nonprofit supported by local residents to promote green space, urged the commission to resist succumbing to yet another pre-emption by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature — a law that went into effect in recent years that undermined the city’s tree permit process.

“I don’t think that we need to be cowering down to what the state is telling us,” said Leslie Poole, a member of the land trust and an environmental studies professor at Rollins College. “I think we ought to be doing what we can and pushing back to say that this is important to Winter Park. On your own website, this is one of the top things that the city of Winter Park touts as its tree canopy, and I want to urge you to continue to support that.”

City Manager Randy Knight explained that the new state rules mean residents can easily override the city when it denies a tree removal permit.

“The state gutted our ability to permit tree removals,” Knight explained. “They basically said that if you go out and find an arborist who says the tree’s dangerous, you can take it out even if the city says you can’t. And so we spend a lot of resources going through that process only to be undermined by the new state rules, and so we propose getting out of the permitting business. That doesn’t mean our people won’t go and talk with homeowners … we’ll still be doing that. They just don’t have to go through that permitting process any longer.”

The budget eliminates two vacant positions related to trees: a tree specialist (about $74,000) and the tree permit position (about $60,000).

The budget also reduces new tree plantings on city right-of-way by about half, or $210,000, and outsources the job of a tree-watering truck ($65,000).

In recent years, the city has aggressively planted new trees on public property and is running out of space, with more than 90% already filled.

City officials said spending on the maintenance of the existing canopy will not be reduced. In addition, the city is conducting a survey of its tree canopy and could add more funds back into the budget partway through the year if the survey shows a need.

Charley Williams, another member of the land trust, said he would like to see Winter Park attempt to come up with other ways to prevent residents from removing healthy, mature trees.

Mayor Sheila DeCiccio noted that the city is also requiring homeowners or contractors to plant new trees when others are removed for construction.

“If you’re going to tear down trees on your lot before you can get a [Certificate of Occupancy], you’re going to have to replant,” she said. “And that’s something we can do. We can’t necessarily prohibit them from taking them down, but we can make them put new trees up.”

Other changes to the budget include reducing the $2.15 million allotment for the library by $25,000, canceling an annual board appreciation event to save $12,000, reducing some Easter and Halloween events put on by the parks department by $20,000, and eliminating monthly printed utility bill calendars as well as some postage and supplies for a combined reduction of about $45,000.

See our other coverage of the Winter Park City Budget here:

• Commissioners Propose Cuts and New Spending Ahead of Budget Vote

• Winter Park Residents to Pay More for Electricity and Water in Proposed Budget

• On the Chopping Block: Police, Fire, Community Groups, Trash Collection

• Winter Park Contends with Higher Police and Fire Costs and How to Maintain Roads

• Gov. Ron DeSantis Vetoes Winter Park Police Request but Allows Mead Garden Project

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