Home › Services › Land clearing for lots and acreage around Knoxville
Most building lots and pasture splits outside the city start out with trees, brush and stumps on them. Clearing gets that vegetation off the ground where something is going to be built, and leaves the rest standing. The two big questions on any clearing job are how much to take and what happens to the debris.
It depends on where the land is, and the answer is often no.
| Location | What the rules say |
|---|---|
| City of Knoxville | The state's list of local burning rules shows Knoxville as no outdoor burning (Division of Forestry list). |
| Unincorporated Knox County | Burning is permitted through Knox County Air Quality Management. Its residential burn permit is not valid on land being cleared for construction, on vacant lots or on commercial property, and it bans burning stumps (Knox County burn permit terms). |
| Blount, Anderson and Sevier counties | From October 15 through May 15 a permit from the Tennessee Division of Forestry is required for debris piles, and each permit is good for one day (TDF burn permits). Alcoa, Maryville, Clinton, Lake City, Norris, Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville have their own rules on top of that. |
Statewide, TDEC lists construction debris, tires, plastics and most vegetation not grown on site as things you can't burn, and notes fines up to $25,000. When wood waste is burned within 200 feet of an occupied building by someone other than the occupant, Tennessee law requires the fire be attended constantly, last no more than 48 hours and happen no more than twice in 30 days. Within 100 feet, an adult occupant has to give written permission. Because of all this, many clearing jobs near Knoxville grind or haul instead of burning. Ask how your contractor plans to deal with the debris, because it is a large part of the price.
On sites that need Tennessee's construction stormwater permit (an acre or more of disturbance, or part of a larger plan), the permit says ground cover shouldn't be stripped more than 14 days before grading starts unless the area is stabilized, and clearing should be held to what grading and equipment actually need. Erosion controls go in before the dirt moves. Smaller jobs aren't covered by the state permit but still fall under county and city erosion rules. The point is the same either way: bare ground sitting for weeks is how mud ends up in creeks and on the road.
Knox County requires vegetated buffers along streams, ponds and wetlands on new development, generally 30 to 60 feet wide, and limits equipment, storage and dumping inside them (stream buffers). Find out where the buffer lines fall before anyone starts cutting along a creek.
Clearing is usually followed by grading and pad work, and on many East Tennessee lots, by meeting the rock that was hiding under the roots. If you're clearing for a house, ask the contractor to quote clearing and grading together so the stumps are dealt with in a way that suits the dirt work that comes after.
Under a building, driveway or anything that needs compacted ground, yes. Buried stumps rot and leave voids that settle. In a yard or pasture edge, grinding them flush is often enough.
Inside Knoxville city limits, outdoor burning isn't allowed. In the county, the residential burn permit specifically excludes land being cleared for construction and bans burning stumps, so plan on grinding or hauling.
Sometimes, on larger tracts with good hardwood. On most house lots the volume is too small to matter. A contractor or a forester can tell you whether it's worth a look.
This site doesn't own a single machine. We pass your request to an independent excavation contractor in the Knoxville area, and that contractor looks at the ground, quotes the work and does it.