Mountain residential clearing
Define the work area, retain the trees that belong and prepare for the next stage of the project.
PICKENS COUNTY, GEORGIA
JASPER.
LAND CLEARING
& GRADING.
Pickens County requires the applicant and the plan preparer to carry separate state certifications before a land disturbance permit gets filed at all.
LOCAL GROUND. A PLAN THAT FITS.
CERTIFIED BEFORE
THE FIRST APPLICATION.
Both the City of Jasper and Pickens County require the permit applicant to hold a Level 1A state certification and the plan preparer to hold Level 2A, with both certification numbers entered directly on the application.
That's a filing requirement most homeowners, and a fair number of contractors, fail to expect going in. We carry what the application requires and handle the submittal end to end.
BUILT AROUND YOUR PROPERTY
JASPER
CLEARING & GRADING.
Steep-lot grading
Work to the site elevations and plan for stable ground, runoff and access.
Driveway and access permitting
Confirm the jurisdiction, required approvals and site conditions before equipment arrives.
Water supply watershed buffers
Check the property boundaries and protected areas before laying out the work.
BUILT AROUND THE CONDITIONS
SITE CONDITIONS.
ANOTHER PERMIT LAYER.
Above 2,200 feet elevation on a slope of 25 percent or more, Pickens County requires an approved site plan and a separate Mountain Protection permit before any land-disturbing work starts, on top of the standard land disturbance permit. That tier also caps tree removal at half of what’s eight inches or larger in diameter unless a reforestation plan is filed, and limits how far a structure can rise above the crest or ridge top near it.
We check the parcel's elevation and slope against that trigger before quoting, since it changes both the permitting path and the site plan.
BEFORE THE WORK STARTS
ACCESS FIRST.
GRADE TO THE STANDARD.
The county's own subdivision standard caps residential road grade at 16 percent, roughly double what a flatter county allows, and a separate Access Encroachment Permit is required before a building permit will even be reviewed; skip it and the fee doubles while inspections stay on hold until it's filed. We pull the access permit first for exactly that reason.
PLAN THE WORK BEFORE IT STARTS
SHALLOW ROCK.
DRAINAGE THAT WORKS.
Nearly half of Pickens County has bedrock within 20 inches of the surface, and the dominant Tallapoosa soil is shallow and well drained, which means water perches on that rock layer rather than draining through it. That’s a shallow-soil runoff problem more than a clay problem, and it changes how we grade for drainage.
More than half the county's soil also carries a cobbly, gravelly or stony classification in its own survey name, so the rock here tends to show up mixed through the ground rather than as a clean outcrop you can see and route around.
BEFORE THE WORK STARTS
WATER PROTECTION.
KNOW EVERY BUFFER.
Pickens County carries 22 designated trout watersheds, more than any other market we work in, which doubles the standard 25-foot buffer to 50 feet on a lot of local creeks. Long Swamp Creek carries an added layer: it's the county's identified drinking water source, which brings a 100-foot buffer and a 150-foot setback where impervious surface is prohibited within seven miles of the intake.
Talking Rock Creek, Long Swamp Creek, Scarecorn Creek and Sharp Mountain Creek are the named waters that run through the county; the Etowah, Amicalola and Cartecay are watershed names on the map rather than streams on the ground here.
BEFORE THE WORK STARTS
DIFFERENT LOTS.
THE SAME PREPARATION.
Pickens County allows single-family density as low as one home per ten acres on protected mountain land, which keeps large-acreage land clearing and driveway work a steady part of this market.
D.R. Horton's Rolling Meadows subdivision in Jasper shows production homebuilding is active here too, alongside custom mountain acreage. We quote both ends of that range.
PLAN THE WHOLE JOB
CLEARING COSTS.
A CLEAR START.
Clearing runs by the acre once we've walked the site. Burning what comes down starts at $10,000 per acre; grinding with the mulch left on site runs about $13,500 per acre, or about $16,000 per acre if we haul the chips off. Mountain Protection sites price separately once we know the elevation and average slope, since both drive the permitting path as well as the grading plan.
Burn on site
From $10,000 / acre
Clearing with on-site burning, where permitted.
Grind & leave mulch
About $13,500 / acre
Grinding with the mulch remaining on the property.
Grind & haul off
About $16,000 / acre
Grinding with the chips removed from the site.
PICKENS COUNTY, GEORGIA
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER.
RIGHT HERE.
Tell us where your Jasper-area project is and what you’re planning. We’ll work through the land clearing & grading scope with you.
We confirm the jurisdiction and the conditions that apply to your property before finalizing the work.
SERVICE AREA MAP · PICKENS COUNTY, GEORGIA
YOUR JASPER QUESTIONS.
ANSWERED.
Start with the property and what you want to do. We’ll help you work through the details.
Pickens County and the City of Jasper both require the applicant to hold Level 1A certification and the plan preparer to hold Level 2A, with both numbers entered on the application itself.
GO STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE
Pickens County and Jasper permit resources.
PLAN THE GRADE.PREPARE YOUR SITE.
Share your Jasper property address so we can check the grade, access and permit requirements before quoting the sitework.