How the checklist decides
Every result comes from fixed rules, not a score. The same answers always give the same list, and each item says why it applies. There are three outcomes.
- A species or water check comes first when burrows, a mapped scrub-jay area or a wetland, canal or easement is on or beside the lot. These settle where and when machines can work, so they come before the clearing scope.
- A permit step comes first when the lot's jurisdiction is unknown, or when a Palm Bay lot under an acre is being cleared to build and the building permit is not yet filed. The city takes that clearing request only once the building permit is under review.
- Ready for a scope when nothing in the answers points to a hold-up before a site visit.
The rules it uses
Inside Palm Bay, the rules come from the city's Land Development Code, Chapter 175: the tree removal and small residential site land clearing permit (§175.014), the grubbing permit for underbrush-only work (§175.015), the site work permit for larger sites (§175.016), and the replacement and root zone rules for trees removed or kept. The Palm Bay permit guide walks through each. In unincorporated Brevard, the county's small-scale land clearing permit sets its own limits, and other towns are confirmed per address on the service area pages.
The wildlife and water items follow the agencies that run them: the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for gopher tortoise burrows (any work within 25 feet needs a permit first, covered in the tortoise survey guide), the city's federal permit for scrub-jay habitat, and the state's Environmental Resource Permit rules for work in wetlands, explained in clearing near wetlands. Debris items follow the Florida Forest Service burn rules, which is why most platted lots end up chipped, mulched or hauled rather than burned.
What the checklist will not do
It does not certify that a permit is or is not needed, and it is not a wildlife survey or a wetland determination. Only the city, the county or the agency can confirm that for a parcel. It never asks you to probe a burrow, disturb a nest or walk into wet ground. If you are not sure about something, "Not sure" is the right answer; the site visit looks for burrows, wet ground, easement lines and the trees worth keeping, and the written scope is built around what it finds.
For the cost side, the land clearing cost calculator gives budgeting ranges by lot size and density. For the full sequence from bare lot to building permit, read how to clear a Palm Bay lot to build a house, or see what lot clearing includes.