Land clearing in Titusville and Mims

City land and county land

Titusville writes its own land development regulations. Mims and Scottsmoor are unincorporated, so Brevard County's Chapter 62 governs clearing there (Brevard County Code s. 62-4333), and the county's Natural Resources Management office reviews it (Brevard NRM permitting). A parcel off US 1 just north of town can fall on either side of the city limit, so check before you read the rules.

Titusville wants a tree survey first

In Titusville the survey comes before the permit. No clearing and grubbing, building, plat or site plan permit is issued until a tree survey is in, and s. 30-40 limits who can prepare it to a Florida registered land surveyor, an FNGLA-certified horticulture professional or a landscape architect licensed in Florida (Titusville LDR, Chapter 30).

Protected trees are native or IFAS Florida-friendly species, and palms are left out. The survey sorts them into three classes by diameter at breast height:

• Significant: 14 to under 20 inches
• Specimen: 20 to under 46 inches
• Heritage: 46 inches or more

Permits, nuisance trees and the one-year catch

Inside city limits, every tree removal needs a permit, except where state or federal law preempts the city (Titusville LDR s. 30-39). Nuisance trees on the FLEPPC Category I list come out without one under s. 30-35, and the City Manager can waive requirements after a hurricane, flood or freeze.

The owner of an existing single-family home is exempt, but the code treats a home as existing only 1 year after its certificate of occupancy. Common areas in developments don't get the exemption at all. If you plan to build and then open up more of the yard, the first year after move-in still runs on permits.

Mims and Scottsmoor: county permits and the river

Outside the city, a land clearing permit is required before any clearing unless the property is exempt under s. 62-4334. The county counts root-raking as land clearing and leaves out allowable mowing, trimming and pruning (s. 62-4332). Bona fide agriculture is one of the listed exemptions (s. 62-4334), which can matter on working farmland.

Parcels on the St. Johns River need a surface water protection buffer survey as part of county review (Brevard NRM). If your land runs west toward the river, ask about it early.

Getting into the back acres

On long north-county parcels the first job is often access: a cleared lane wide enough for a truck and a mulcher, so the rest of the land can be looked at properly. Access road clearing and acreage clearing cover that work, and storm debris cleanup covers the pines a hurricane leaves across it.