On this page
- Clearing a Lot for a House: What Happens Before the Pad
- Lot Clearing in Nocatee, SilverLeaf, RiverTown, Wildlight, Lake Asbury and Palm Coast
- Lot Clearing, Pads and Fill on Low Flatwoods Lots
- Acreage Homesite Clearing in Clay, Nassau and Baker
- What a Lot Clearing Contractor Does and Does Not Do
- Wooded Lot Clearing vs. Overgrown Lot Cleanup
- Lot Clearing and Rough Grading for a Build-Ready Site
- Lot Clearing Cost by Lot Size in Jacksonville
- Tree Permits, Gopher Tortoise Surveys and Wetlands Before Clearing a Lot
- Where We Clear Lots: Expert Land Clearing Across Northeast Florida
- Frequently Asked Questions About Lot Clearing in Northeast Florida
Clearing a Lot for a House: What Happens Before the Pad
Four steps between a wooded lot and a slab, and land clearing is the first two. We clear the palmetto, brush and trees with forestry mulching, then grub the pad footprint with the root rake. The plot plan tells me where the house, the drive and the septic field go. Those three areas we clear to dirt; the rest stays mulched, which keeps the shade and your property value. Then rough grading and fill, then the slab crew. Jacksonville land clearing for a residential lot is one or two days of equipment time when the plot plan is in my hand. Send it before we meet and we clear on schedule.
Lot Clearing in Nocatee, SilverLeaf, RiverTown, Wildlight, Lake Asbury and Palm Coast
The Census Building Permits Survey counted 3,554 single-family permits in St. Johns County in 2025, 3,471 of them unincorporated: Nocatee, SilverLeaf, RiverTown. Duval wrote 3,732, Flagler 1,950 with 1,356 in Palm Coast, Clay 1,240, Nassau 887. Every one of those new construction lots had to be cleared first. The master-planned communities add a CDD review to the county clearing permit; Palm Coast allows no land clearing without a building permit in hand. On a Nocatee-area lot we cleared around 3 live oaks the St. Johns County code protects, one day, $2,700. The land clearing service does not change at the county line.
Lot Clearing, Pads and Fill on Low Flatwoods Lots
A low flatwoods lot needs 12 inches of compacted fill above crown of road under the house, quoted per pad. Flatwoods sand sits on hardpan 12 to 30 inches down, so from June to September the water has nowhere to go. Clear it and the water the palmetto drank runs to the lowest corner, so the pad goes up and the swale goes in the same day. Three roller passes, then a grade check against the string line. Last fall on a Yulee lot near Wildlight we mulched in one day and built the pad for $3,900 on top of the $2,700 clearing. The St. Johns runs north, and so does most of my fuel budget. Fill is quoted after I see the soil, not before.
Acreage Homesite Clearing in Clay, Nassau and Baker
A pine lot of 1 to 10 acres off CR 218, US 301 or SR 121: we clear the pad, driveway and septic area to dirt, mulch a usable yard around the house, and leave the back acreage standing or thinned. On a 3-acre flatwoods lot off CR 218 in Middleburg we mulched palmetto under slash pine in 2 days, $5,400, with two gopher tortoise burrows flagged at 25 feet. Multi-acre homesites run $1,400 to 2,300 by density on flatwoods and $1,100 to 1,700 on Trail Ridge scrub, priced by acreage. Keep the live oaks: the Clay County and Nassau County codes protect them at 8 inches. The driveway cut comes first; accessibility for a 25-foot trailer means a 14-foot gap at the road.
What a Lot Clearing Contractor Does and Does Not Do
Land clearing contractors here handle seven things, and we do all seven: forestry mulching, camphor and privet with cut-stump treatment, stumps ground or pulled, root rake grubbing, pad rough-in, driveway cut, haul-off. Stump removal under the pad is the root rake at $165 an hour; in the yard it is grinding at $4.25 an inch. Tree removal of a protected oak needs the county permit first, and I pull it. What we do not do: concrete, wells, septic installation, house demolition. I know people who do. Our clearing equipment: a tracked skid steer with the mulcher head, a 300-hp mulcher, a dozer with root rake, an excavator for the loads. We equip the skid steer with a grapple for storm debris. Professional equipment, knowledgeable operators, comprehensive land clearing and nothing past it.
Wooded Lot Clearing vs. Overgrown Lot Cleanup
A wooded lot is 40-year slash pine over a palmetto mat; an overgrown infill lot is vine, camphor and Chinese privet on an old homesite. They clear differently. The wooded lot is a forestry mulching job: trees and brush to 8 inches go through the drum, bigger pine gets cut first, and vegetation density sets the day count. The infill lot is a cleanup: unwanted vegetation, brush and overgrowth come out with the grapple, camphor gets treated at the cut. Lots overgrow fast here; a bare lot is waist-high in two summers. The infill cleanup is $1,900 flat. The wooded one-day lot is $2,700. Terrain matters on both: ground that holds water in July adds a day. Either way we clear it and transform it into a lot the builder can stake.
Lot Clearing and Rough Grading for a Build-Ready Site
Stake it, string it, check the grade. That habit came from 12 years as a Seabee, and it is why a pad we build passes the proof-roll the first time. Once the lot is clear we set the pad corners, run string line at pad elevation, and bring fill in 6-inch lifts with compaction passes between. The crew checks grade at every corner and the center, and I check it again before the slab contractor is called. Erosion is the enemy on bare sand, so silt fence goes on the low side and the mulched areas stay mulched. Site preparation done right is a land clearing project that ends with a pad 12 inches above crown of road, and it stays there.
Lot Clearing Cost by Lot Size in Jacksonville
- Quarter-acre infill lot: $1,900 flat.
- Half-acre lot: one day on the skid steer, $2,700, transport included.
- Lots of 1 to 3 acres: $2,700 to 5,400 by density; the Yulee lot was $2,700 plus a $3,900 pad, the Middleburg lot $5,400.
- 6 acres of scrub: 2 days, $7,200 at Keystone Heights.
- Stumps: $4.25 per inch of diameter, $160 minimum, or by the day over 10.
- Pad: rough grade and 12 inches of compacted fill above crown of road, quoted per pad.
- Full clearing to dirt with stumps out: $2,800 to 5,000 per acre. Haul-off: $650 to 1,200 per 10-yard load.
Land clearing costs vary with density, stumps, the loads and the wet season, and the written quote lists every line. Transparent pricing is the point of the sheet. Free estimate on-site in all six counties. Call (904) 406-7990 or pick a walk-through slot on the calendar for a quote by text. No surprises on the invoice.
Tree Permits, Gopher Tortoise Surveys and Wetlands Before Clearing a Lot
Three things require permits before we clear a residential lot in Northeast Florida, and the permit requirements change by county. Trees: City of Jacksonville Chapter 656 at 11.5 inches DBH in Duval, St. Johns County LDC Article IV and Clay County LDC at 8 inches, the Nassau County tree ordinance, and Palm Coast, where no clearing happens without a building permit. I pull the Chapter 656 permit, fee at cost. Tortoises: FWC wants a survey within 90 days on sandy ground, $400 to 900, no work within 25 feet of a burrow, and a relocation permit if burrows are found. Water: the SJRWMD Environmental Resource Permit is triggered by fill and drainage changes, not by clearing; a cypress dome or bayhead stays out of the footprint. Local regulations go in the quote before the price. Sustainability, to a CDD reviewer, means the mulch stays and the oaks stand; that is what we clear to.
Where We Clear Lots: Expert Land Clearing Across Northeast Florida
Family-owned and run from Middleburg in Clay County, with mulching services throughout Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau and Baker and in Flagler north of Palm Coast, transport included. South Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell carry a transport line. Communities in the service area: St. Augustine, Nocatee, Ponte Vedra, St. Johns, Julington Creek, Middleburg, Green Cove Springs, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Keystone Heights, Yulee, Fernandina Beach, Callahan, Hilliard, Macclenny, Palm Coast, Bunnell and Baldwin. Residential and commercial projects run on the same sheet; large commercial pads, large-scale commercial development and property development tracts are priced by the civil set, land management on timber tracts by the day. Property owners with land clearing needs anywhere on that list: pick a walk-through slot on the calendar or call (904) 406-7990. I confirm by text the same evening, the crews are fully insured, and we clear it on the date we agree.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lot Clearing in Northeast Florida
How much does it cost to clear an acre of land in Florida?
In Northeast Florida, $1,400 to 2,300 to mulch palmetto flatwoods, $1,100 to 1,700 on scrub, and $2,800 to 5,000 for full clearing to dirt with the stumps out, all priced on acreage. A residential lot is one day, $2,700. The wet season, June to September, adds about one day.
What is the best way to clear a lot in Florida?
Forestry mulching for everything except the pad, root rake under the pad. Forestry mulchers leave the root mat and topsoil, so the lot does not wash in the first summer storm, and mulch in place eliminates the need for a burn pile. The pad still gets grubbed and filled. That is how we clear land responsibly on nine of ten jobs.
How long does lot clearing take?
One day for the typical lot, two days for 3 acres of palmetto flatwoods, plus a day for the pad. The 300-hp mulcher does 3 to 5 acres a day on bigger tracts. Wet flatwoods in July add a day, and I text if weather moves the date.
Can you haul away the debris?
Yes, $650 to 1,200 per 10-yard load with the trucks, dump fees in. Most lots do not need it: the mulch stays as ground cover and there is no smoke pollution from a pile. It makes sense on an infill lot with no room for mulch, or after a storm; professional land clearing includes the preparation of the load site so the trucks do not rut the yard.
When is the best time to clear a lot in Florida?
November to May. The flatwoods are dry, the equipment does not rut, the pad compacts to spec and the sod roots before the June rain. We work year-round, but June to September adds a day on low lots. Pick a slot on the calendar or call (904) 406-7990 and I text you a date the same evening.
