On this page
- Land Clearing Services in St. Augustine
- Lot Clearing for New Homes in St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach
- Brush Clearing and Forestry Mulching Near St. Augustine
- How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in St. Augustine?
- Permits, Gopher Tortoises and Wetlands Before You Clear in St. Augustine
- Serving St. Augustine ZIP Codes 32080, 32084, 32086, 32092 and 32095 and Nearby St. Augustine Beach, Elkton, Hastings and Vilano Beach
- St. Augustine Land Clearing FAQs
Land Clearing Services in St. Augustine
Whitfield Clearing & Grading provides land clearing and site work on residential and commercial properties in the St. Augustine area. One clearing service, six lines.
| Land clearing to dirt, stumps out | $2,800 to 5,000 an acre |
| Forestry mulching, skid steer | $2,700 a day, transport included |
| Half-acre lot | One day, $2,700 |
| Brush clearing and brush removal | By the day or the acre |
| Stump grinding | $4.25 per inch of diameter, $160 minimum |
| Site preparation and grading | $165 an hour grubbing; pad quoted per pad |
Not mine: concrete, wells, septic, utility excavation, demolition. I know who does them.
Lot Clearing for New Homes in St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach
The city of St. Augustine permitted 71 single-family homes in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey; unincorporated St. Johns County permitted 3,471. The growth is outside the city line, on the lots off SR 207, SR 16 and CR 214, and that is where most lot clearing happens. Inside the city and at the beach it is teardowns under oak, with the city tree code and the county code both protecting the live oaks.
Residential land clearing on an SR 207 lot: stake the envelope and the drive, flag the oaks over 8 inches DBH, mulch the palmetto and pine inside the lines, grub under the pad only. Then the pad, rough grade and 12 inches of compacted fill above crown of road, three roller passes, quoted per pad. The Navy issued me patience in the same box as the grade rod. On a lot off SR 16 last fall the pad passed proof-roll on the first try.
Brush Clearing and Forestry Mulching Near St. Augustine
Forestry mulching is a land clearing method that uses specialized equipment to grind trees, brush and vegetation into mulch, and west of US 1 it is the way to clear flatwoods without a burn pile. Palmetto, gallberry, wax myrtle and vine are mulched in place as a 3 to 4 inch layer. A rotary cutter leaves the palmetto root mat and the fans return by fall; the mulcher head runs below grade and takes the mat with them.
In areas with dense palmetto the crew runs about an acre a day. The old potato-field flatwoods toward Hastings are faster: wax myrtle and young pine over sand, no root mat to speak of. June to September adds a day on wet flatwoods where the hardpan holds water. Selective clearing is the rule on the ridge, where the oaks stay. Overgrown land on a city teardown lot is vine and camphor, and a lot left to overgrow ten years still clears in a day; we remove brush to the landscape beds and stop.
How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in St. Augustine?
A half-acre lot runs $2,700, one day of skid steer mulching, transport included; a quarter-acre infill lot is $1,900 flat. The number for acreage depends on the size of the tract and the ground; the land clearing costs run:
- Palmetto and pine flatwoods along SR 207 and SR 16: $1,400 to 2,300 an acre by density.
- Coastal scrub on the Vilano and Anastasia ridges: $1,100 to 1,700 an acre.
- Live oak hammock, selective, county oaks kept: $2,000 to 3,200 an acre.
- Full clearing to dirt with stumps: $2,800 to 5,000 an acre.
- Large acreage clearing, 300-hp mulcher: $4,100 a day plus transport.
Stated before the price: the wet-season day from June to September, and a gopher tortoise survey at $400 to 900 by a licensed agent on sandy ground. The comparable I use is a half-acre lot in the Nocatee area, palmetto under pine, 3 live oaks kept under the county tree ordinance, one day, $2,700. No surprises on the invoice. Pick a walk-through slot on the calendar or call (904) 406-7990. I confirm by text the same evening.
Permits, Gopher Tortoises and Wetlands Before You Clear in St. Augustine
Inside the city line the city tree code applies. Outside it, the St. Johns County Land Development Code, Article IV, protects trees 8 inches DBH and up and specimen live oaks, with mitigation if one comes down, and a county clearing permit is required before a building permit.
SJRWMD holds the Environmental Resource Permit. Clearing alone is not a trigger; fill or a drainage change is. The marsh edges on the Matanzas and Tolomato and the wet flatwoods along SR 207 need a Chapter 62-340 delineation before anything moves, and the wet part stays out of the footprint or waits on the permit.
FWC gopher tortoise rules cover the ridges and every sandy lot: survey within 90 days, no work within 25 feet of a burrow, relocation permit before clearing. Sunshine 811 marks the gas pipeline before a stump comes out. A Florida Forest Service burn authorization is not realistic on a platted lot, so the material is mulched or hauled at $650 to 1,200 per 10-yard load. Matthew put surge through downtown in 2016; I keep pads above that line.
Serving St. Augustine ZIP Codes 32080, 32084, 32086, 32092 and 32095 and Nearby St. Augustine Beach, Elkton, Hastings and Vilano Beach
ZIP 32080 is the island and St. Augustine Beach; 32084 the city and Vilano Beach; 32086 the SR 207 lots toward Elkton; 32092 and 32095 run north toward World Golf Village. We are a company serving property owners in St. Augustine, FL and the surrounding area with land clearing services across Northeast Florida, services throughout St. Johns County and the Jacksonville metro from one yard. Land clearing St. Augustine owners book splits about even between oak lots and palmetto lots.
St. Augustine Land Clearing FAQs
Do I need a permit to burn cleared brush in St. Augustine?
Yes, a Florida Forest Service open burning authorization, and on a platted lot you will not get one. That is why land clearing projects here are mulched in place or hauled. Haul-off runs $650 to 1,200 per 10-yard load for what will not mulch.
Can you remove large trees and grind the stumps?
Yes. Tree removal over 8 inches DBH needs the county permit, or the city permit inside the line, and specimen live oaks normally stay. We grind stumps at $4.25 per inch of diameter, $160 minimum, or by the day on lots with 10 or more. Sunshine 811 marks the lines first.
Do you provide commercial clearing in St. Augustine?
Yes. Commercial land clearing services cover outparcels on US 1 and SR 16, commercial sites along SR 207 and any commercial development that needs site clearing and land improvement before civil work. Commercial properties in St. Augustine carry the 6-inch DBH threshold, so commercial clearing starts with the tree survey and a site visit.
What does the land clearing process look like on every project?
We walk the property, then flag, machine, pad, grade check. The crew mulches or grubs depending on site conditions, builds the pad and proof-rolls it. The written price is set before the trailer leaves Middleburg; the frequently asked questions on the lot are about oaks and water.
Why hire a land clearing company instead of a tree service?
A tree service stops at the trunk and leaves the stumps, the palmetto and the grade. Professional clearing by a land clearing company ends at a buildable pad: property clearing, stump grinding, compaction, site prep. To clear land and make your property ready for a slab, do it once, to grade, on paper.
