Before clearing day: what to sort out first

Find out whose rules apply

Brevard has a county code, and the cities write their own on top of it. Inside Palm Bay, Melbourne, Titusville, Cocoa or Rockledge, the city's tree and clearing rules apply. In unincorporated areas such as Merritt Island, Viera, Port St. John and Mims, the county's Natural Resources Management office reviews land clearing (Brevard NRM). Your tax bill shows which one you're in, and each of our area pages covers the local rules.

Time the permit to the work. A county land clearing permit has an expiry date, so check the dates on yours with the county (Brevard County Code s. 62-4338). Before we put you on the schedule, sort out which permit you need and who is applying for it.

Look for gopher tortoise burrows

Gopher tortoises are a threatened species in Florida, and state rules protect their burrows as well as the animals. Nobody may harass, capture or move a tortoise, or damage its burrow, without an FWC permit (FWC rules and regulations).

A burrow is a half-moon opening in sandy ground, often with a fan of loose sand out front. FWC treats any work within 25 feet of a burrow that may be occupied as a disturbance that needs a permit. If all the work stays at least 25 feet from burrows and tortoises, you may not need one (FWC gopher tortoise permits).

Surveys and relocation are done by an FWC Authorized Gopher Tortoise Agent, and FWC's permits page has a map for finding one. Clearing either stays clear of flagged burrows or starts once the agent is done and the permit allows it.

In parts of Brevard, bright white sand with low scrubby oaks can also mean Florida scrub-jay habitat, and the scrub-jay is federally threatened (FWC). If your lot looks like that, ask the city or county before the clearing is priced.

Mark the trees you're keeping

Walk the lot and tie ribbon or spray a ring of paint on every tree that stays. Do it before the quote, so the price covers what's actually coming out, and point them out to us before the machines start.

Marking the trunk isn't enough on its own. Roots spread well past the trunk, and in unincorporated Brevard the county counts soil compaction, root damage from machines, materials stored under a tree and filling over its roots as land clearing (s. 62-4338). Fence off the ground under the canopy of any tree you really care about, and keep fill piles and parked trucks out of it.

Not sure where the property line is? Have a surveyor stake it. We clear to the stakes, and a fence line isn't always the property line.

Call 811 before anything is dug

Florida's call-before-you-dig center is Sunshine 811. Its rules say anyone who is digging has to notify it, and digging includes grading (Sunshine 811 FAQ). Dial 811 or file online at least two full business days before work starts. The day you contact them doesn't count, and neither do weekends or holidays.

811 notifies the utilities that belong to it, and each one marks its own lines with paint or flags. Lines you own yourself, like a well line, irrigation, or a power feed to a shed or a gate, usually aren't part of that. Tell us where they run.

Make room for the trucks

Our dump trucks and machines need a way in, and a loaded tri-axle dump truck needs firm ground under it. Before clearing day, look at:

• The way in: gate width, low branches, overhead wires, the culvert at the road and any soft or wet ground.
• Where a truck can turn around without backing all the way out to the street.
• What has to be avoided, like a drain field, a well, irrigation heads, a fence or the neighbor's yard.
• Where fill or millings can be dumped, if they're coming in after the clearing.
• Written permission, if the only way in crosses a neighbor's land.

Tell the HOA and the neighbors

If you're in an HOA, get any approval it requires before clearing starts. A heads-up to the neighbors about trucks on the street doesn't hurt either. If the lot is being cleared for a house, the building pad guide covers what happens next.