Lot clearing in Horry County — survey the live oaks first, then start the mulcher
The Strand is building thousands of homes a year on old pine flatwoods and oak hammocks. Clearing a lot here starts with a tape measure, not a mulcher: find the 24-inch live oaks, keep them, and the rest is machinery.
Horry County permitted more than 6,500 homes in 2025 and most of them went onto wooded lots — pine flatwoods in Carolina Forest and the Little River corner, oak hammocks along the Waterway and the Waccamaw, old farm edges around Conway, Loris and Aynor. Clearing those lots is a big part of what we do, and the county has made one thing very clear since its 2023 ordinance (tightened again in June 2026): every live oak 24 inches in diameter at breast height is a specimen live oak, the rule applies to every property including single-family lots, a survey is required, and removing one without a Zoning Board of Appeals variance can block building permits and subdivision approval on that parcel for two years. The fee-in-lieu for replacement trees is $150 per tree, doubled for live oaks, with a 1.5× multiplier for specimens. On the city side, Myrtle Beach regulates significant and landmark trees on every lot and mitigates removals at up to $400 per tree. Georgetown County protects everything over 10 inches on the Waccamaw Neck. Pawleys Island bans lot clearing outright.
So our lot clearing starts with the survey: our arborist walks the parcel, measures and flags every protected tree for your town or the county, and gives you a plan that keeps the ones that have to stay (and the ones worth keeping anyway — a 24-inch live oak in the front yard is the best thing a new house can have). Then the equipment: a forestry mulcher for pines, sweetgums, wax myrtle and the understory, which grinds everything standing into a mulch layer and leaves no stumps and no burn pile; a grapple and chipper for the selective removals; a crane where a protected oak's neighbors have to come out around it. We don't burn — land-clearing burns in Horry County need 1,000 feet from roads and other people's buildings, the Forestry Commission's notification, and a 30×30-foot pile limit, and the Highway 31 fire in 2009 that took 76 homes started as an escaped debris burn. We mulch or we haul, and the landfill takes land-clearing debris at $22 a ton.
What's included
Protected-tree survey
Every live oak and listed species measured and flagged for the county's or your town's threshold before any machine starts.
Forestry mulching
Pines, sweetgum, wax myrtle and understory ground in place — no stumps, no burn pile, erosion-resistant mulch left behind.
Selective clearing
Keep the specimen oaks and the shade; remove the rest, including removals by crane around the keepers.
Variance and permit handling
ZBA variance applications in Horry County, mitigation math in Myrtle Beach, Georgetown County permits on the Neck.
No burning
Mulched or hauled to the landfill; no escaped debris fires on our watch.
Builder coordination
Flagged keep-trees and root-zone fencing specs for the site plan.
Lot clearing cost in Myrtle Beach, SC
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Protected-tree survey, residential lot | $250 – $600 | Credited toward clearing |
| Forestry mulching, light brush and small pines | $1,500 – $3,000 per acre | Half-acre minimum |
| Forestry mulching, dense pines and hardwoods | $3,000 – $6,000 per acre | Larger stems, more passes |
| Selective tree removal on a building lot | Quoted per tree | See removal |
| Stump grinding across a cleared lot | $3 – $5 per inch | Or mulched in place |
| Haul-off of land-clearing debris | $22 per ton landfill fee + hauling | When mulching isn't wanted |
These are 2026 Grand Strand ranges so you can budget. Your written price is itemized — the climb or bucket work, rigging, chipping and haul-off, stump grinding, crane time, the permit for your town — and good for 30 days.
Recent work
Questions we get about lot clearing
Do I really need a survey for a single house lot?
In unincorporated Horry County, yes, if there's any chance a live oak on it is 24 inches — the 2023 and 2026 ordinances apply the specimen rule to single-family lots and require the survey. Inside Myrtle Beach the significant-tree rule applies to house lots too. We'd rather measure than find out at the permit counter.
What if the only place for the house is where the big oak is?
Horry County allows a variance for 'reasonable use' of the lot, with mitigation; Myrtle Beach allows removal within 10 feet of the building footprint on residential lots. Both take paperwork and an arborist's report, which we prepare. Often the house can be shifted a few feet instead.
Can I just burn the brush?
Legally, with the Forestry Commission's notification, 50 feet from structures for yard debris or 1,000 feet from roads and others' buildings for land clearing, and never during a ban. Practically, the 2009 fire burned 19,000 acres from an escaped debris burn and the 2025 Carolina Forest fire started in a backyard. We mulch.
What does mulching leave behind?
A two-to-four-inch layer of chipped wood over the ground, no stumps above grade, no holes. It settles in a few months and the builder's grading goes right through it.
Do you clear lots in Georgetown County?
Yes — Pawleys, Litchfield and Murrells Inlet — with the county's 10-inch permit, and never on Pawleys Island itself, where lot clearing is prohibited.