Before anything is cut: the permits
- Clearing or grading on a single-family lot in Mount Pleasant needs the Town's stormwater management and tree preservation permit before work starts. The zoning code requires a permit before any lot is cleared, excavated or filled (§156.1171).
- Protected trees need their own approval. If the clearing is for a new house, tree removal is reviewed with the building permit.
- Outside town limits, unincorporated Charleston County requires a stormwater permit once land disturbance passes 5,000 square feet.
Most lots don't need everything gone
Full clear
Everything comes out: brush, trees and stumps, down to bare, workable ground.
Best forHouse pads, pools, driveways
Selective clear
The brush and scrub trees come out. The trees you pick stay, and the machine works around their roots rather than over them.
Best forWooded lots you want to live on
Underbrush clear
Only the understory goes: vines, briars and saplings. The canopy overhead is left alone.
Best forReclaiming a back acre, trails, fence lines
Can you clear right up to the marsh?
No. Mount Pleasant keeps a natural, undisturbed buffer landward of the state critical line, averaging 35 feet and never less than 20 (Zoning Code §§156.622–156.623), and the City of Charleston does not allow trees in its critical line buffer to be removed. The marsh itself is state critical area, and altering it needs a state permit.
What if part of the property is wet?
Have it looked at before anything is cleared. Under federal rules, mechanized land clearing in a wetland can count as a regulated discharge (33 CFR 323.2), which needs a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District. The federal definition of a regulated wetland is being rewritten as of 2026, so on low, wet ground a wetland delineation is the safe first step.
Can the brush be burned instead of hauled off?
Not in town. Mount Pleasant only allows burning inside an approved, screened, non-combustible container (Town Code §92.30), and South Carolina's open-burning rules keep land-clearing fires at least 1,000 feet from homes and public roads. On a residential lot, the debris gets hauled off.
Will the town pick up the debris?
Not if a contractor cut it. Mount Pleasant and the City of Charleston both leave debris from hired work to the contractor to haul away, which is why where the debris goes is part of the quote from the start.
How the job runs
- 01Walk the lot together and flag what stays: the trees worth keeping, the clearing limit, and the way in for equipment.
- 02Permits in hand before work starts.
- 03Utilities marked through SC811 before any stumps are pulled, because pulling a stump is digging.
- 04Clear with a tracked excavator, working around the keeper trees' roots rather than driving over them.
- 05Haul the debris off and knock down the ruts and root holes, so the ground is ready for whatever comes next.
What Josiah looks at on a visit
The site plan if you have one, which trees you want kept, and how trucks and equipment will get in.
Get a quote for thisSources
- Town of Mount Pleasant, Single Family Stormwater Management and Tree Preservation
- Town of Mount Pleasant, Trees (tree permit questions)
- Mount Pleasant Zoning Code §156.1171, permits for clearing, excavating and filling
- Mount Pleasant Zoning Code §§156.622–156.623, critical line buffers
- Mount Pleasant Town Code §92.30, burning
- 33 CFR 323.2, discharges of dredged or fill material (wetlands)
- S.C. Code §58-36-60, notice before excavating (SC811)
Checked October 5, 2026. Rules change, so the town or agency named has the final word. This page explains how the rules usually apply; it isn’t legal advice.