Site prep and building pads in Viera

Working to the builder's plans

On a builder's lot the decisions are already made. The site plan sets the pad size, and the survey and drainage plan set the elevations. Our part is clearing what's left, bringing in fill, compacting it in lifts and grading it to those numbers. Site prep for builders covers how we work with contractors.

If the builder or engineer wants compaction tests on the pad, a separate testing firm usually runs them. Tell us up front so the pad is ready when they come out.

County permits and their window

Viera and Suntree aren't cities. They're unincorporated Brevard, so the county's land clearing rules apply. The county code (Brevard County Code s. 62-4338) gives a land clearing permit an expiry date and says it has to be posted on the site. Check the dates on yours with Brevard Natural Resources Management and line the work up inside that window.

A kept tree can still be damaged

The same section treats harm to a kept tree as land clearing. Soil compaction, machine damage to roots or trunk, materials stored under the canopy and cutting or filling over the root system all count (s. 62-4338).

On a lot with an oak that's staying, the ground under its canopy should be fenced off before work starts, with the fill, the trucks and the stockpile kept outside the fence.

Homeowners, HOAs and Suntree

For a homeowner in Viera, dirt work is more likely to mean fill and grading in an existing yard than clearing. Many Viera neighborhoods have an association with an architectural review step for changes to the lot. Get that approval before we deliver fill dirt.

Suntree, just to the north, is older, and some homes there sit on bigger lots with mature trees. The county's exemptions turn partly on lot size, so ask before any of those trees come out.