Last Updated: · Written by Sunward Palm Coast Land Clearing
Sunward Palm Coast Land Clearing’s typical range for clearing a quarter-acre Palm Coast lot is $800 to $3,000, and for acreage $1,200 to $8,000 per acre from light brush to heavy woods. Most wooded Palm Coast lots sit in the upper half of the lot range, because we grub the slab area and grind or haul the debris rather than burn it. We set your price after walking the lot and put it in a written estimate; the parts of a price and the city’s fees are below.
In short
- Quarter-acre lot: our typical range is $800 to $3,000; heavy lots with stumps and haul-off run above it.
- Per acre: $1,200 to $2,500 light, $2,500 to $4,500 moderate, $4,500 to $8,000 heavy.
- Outside the clearing price: the survey, the permit and Palm Coast tree bank fees of $220 to $580 per tree.
- Clearing before the permit is issued costs $1,000 or double the permit fee, whichever is higher.
What does a lot my size cost?
Palm Coast’s 11,014 vacant residential parcels average about 0.31 acre, so the quarter-acre range is the one most owners need. Your own price comes from the lot walk; the land clearing cost estimator shows where a specific lot is likely to land.
| Lot size | Our typical range | Where it fits in Palm Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Eighth acre | $600 to $2,000 | Small infill lots and side yards |
| Quarter acre | $800 to $3,000 | A typical platted lot (vacant lots average 0.31 acre) |
| Half acre | $1,000 to $5,000 | Double lots and larger lots at the edges of the platted sections |
On acreage, density sets the price more than size alone. Our typical per-acre ranges:
| Density | Our typical range | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Light | $1,200 to $2,500 per acre | Scattered trees, thin brush, open ground between |
| Moderate | $2,500 to $4,500 per acre | Pine and palmetto with a continuous understory |
| Heavy | $4,500 to $8,000 per acre | Closed canopy, dense palmetto root mass, many stumps |
We price two add-ons their own way. Our typical range for stump grinding is $2 to $6 per inch of diameter, with a first stump at $120 to $400 (more in the stump grinding cost guide). Forestry mulching is billed by the machine hour or day, typically $125 to $300 per machine hour with us, plus the cost of trucking the machine in, as the forestry mulching cost guide explains.
What moves a Palm Coast lot up or down the range
| Factor | Pushes the price down | Pushes the price up |
|---|---|---|
| Trees | Mostly palmetto and small pines | Large oaks and pines in the slab area |
| Stumps | Ground at the edges | Pulled with roots under the slab and driveway |
| Debris | Mulched and spread on the lot | Logs and stumps hauled away |
| Keepers | None, or at the lot edges | Several, close to the footprint, needing hand work |
| Ground | Dry, firm sand | Wet flatwoods sand that ruts under a machine |
| Access | Open frontage, no wires | Tight lot between houses, overhead lines |
Burning, which can cut costs on rural land, is effectively ruled out on a Palm Coast street. Florida’s rules set residential pile burns 300 feet from any occupied home other than the owner’s, so we grind or truck the wood, and the truck time is part of the price.
| Part of the price | What sets it | Local figure or source |
|---|---|---|
| Machine and operator time | Density, stump count, palmetto root mass and how much of the lot is grubbed rather than mulched | Construction equipment operators in the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro earn a mean $22.83 an hour, 28% below the $31.87 national mean (BLS) |
| Saw and ground crew | Hand work around keepers, felling near houses and fences, cleanup along the swale | Tree trimmers earn a mean $23.11 locally against $26.91 nationally; construction laborers $21.25 against $25.02 (BLS) |
| Haul-off and disposal | Loads of logs, stumps and slash that leave the lot, and the drive to a site that takes them | Flagler County lists no county disposal fee in the FDEP table; Volusia County lists yard trash at $31.44 a ton and Putnam County $31.00 (FDEP) |
| Tree removal permit and replacement | Trees 6 in and over that come down, and whether replacements are planted or paid for | City of Palm Coast tree bank fund: $220 to $580 per tree, $275 per sabal palm (city fee schedule) |
| Survey and lot clearing permit | A survey showing trees 6 in and over, and the permit application | The surveyor prices the survey; the city sets the permit fee at application. Scope to check |
| Silt fence and swale protection | Street frontage length and slope; kept through sod and landscaping | Priced by the length of frontage; the city requires it on every new home lot |
| Gopher tortoise survey or relocation | Burrows within 25 ft of the work need an FWC permit and an authorized agent | Priced by the authorized agent when burrows are found |
| Fill, grading and sod | Pad height and the engineered drainage plan, after clearing | Priced by the site work contractor; a separate scope, not part of clearing |
Wages are employee pay from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach OEWS estimates (the metro area that includes Flagler County) and the national estimates. A wage is not a billing rate: the hourly rate on a quote also carries the machine, fuel, transport, insurance, licensing and overhead.
The wage gap runs the other way from what many owners expect. Construction equipment operators in the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro, which includes Flagler County, earn a mean $22.83 an hour, about 28% below the $31.87 national mean. Labor costs are not what pushes a Palm Coast lot toward the top of the range; stumps, haul-off and grubbing the slab area are.
Palm Coast fees and penalties
These are the city’s own figures from its summary of application fees. They sit outside the clearing price.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Tree bank fund, shade tree (2 in caliper) or understory tree (1.5 in) | $220 per tree |
| Tree bank fund, sabal palm | $275 per palm |
| Tree bank fund, shade tree (3.5 in caliper) | $580 per tree |
| Lot cleared before the permit is issued | $1,000 or double the permit fee, whichever is higher |
The tree bank applies when replacement trees required by the tree permit are paid for instead of planted. The penalty is the one to avoid: a Palm Coast lot cannot be cleared until the home’s building permit is issued, as the guide to clearing a lot to build explains. The exception is the lot next door to a home you own.
Want a number for your lot?
A survey with the trees marked and a few photos are enough for a scoped price.
Incentives
| Program | Who runs it | Who qualifies | For a house lot? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential lot clearing incentives | None in Palm Coast or Flagler County | n/a | No |
| EQIP brush management and woody residue practices | USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Florida | Agricultural producers and non-industrial private forest land | No |
Example budgets (illustrative)
These examples are illustrative, built from our ranges and the city’s fees above. They are not quotes and do not describe real jobs.
- A lightly wooded quarter-acre lot, mostly palmetto and small pines, mulched in place, one oak kept at the front. Clearing toward the lower part of $800 to $3,000, plus the survey and permit. See what land clearing includes before comparing quotes.
- A wooded quarter-acre lot with pines and oaks in the slab area, stumps pulled under the house and driveway (clearing and grubbing), logs hauled. Clearing toward the top of $800 to $3,000 or above it, plus the survey and permit, plus $220 to $580 for each replacement tree paid into the tree bank.
- A one-acre homesite near Bunnell, moderate pine and palmetto, with only the house pad, driveway and septic area cleared. Priced on the cleared part at $2,500 to $4,500 per acre as the moderate range, with the rest left wooded.
Get a price for your lot
Send the address or parcel number and the survey if you have it. A price for a specific lot depends on its trees, stumps, access and debris plan.