| It is important to be able to determine early in | | | | Municipal ordinances usually spell out minimum lot |
| your screening if a specific parcel may be worthy | | | | size and width requirements for flag parcels (i.e., |
| of further investigation as a potential land | | | | those with a narrow strip fronting on a street). A |
| development. However, it may be even more | | | | land parcel with hundreds of feet of frontage on |
| important for you to be able to identify fairly | | | | one or more streets may not be the answer, |
| quickly those properties on which you should not | | | | unless your goal is to simply subdivide the |
| be spending any time and effort. The problem | | | | property into individual residential building lots |
| may be with the parcel itself. On the other hand, | | | | without the need for a new road. If you're |
| it could be a property having the wrong seller, | | | | contemplating a retail or office development and |
| one that's in the wrong municipality or just bad | | | | not subdividing, the municipality will probably |
| timing. You could have any combination of factors | | | | require improvements along the frontage that |
| translating into a "red flag" potential real estate | | | | could make the ultimate development costly. |
| development, i.e., one that's not economically | | | | These could include widening the road along each |
| feasible or where you would have to grab a tiger | | | | frontage, installing curbing and sidewalk, relocating |
| by its tail. As the title suggests, this article | | | | existing utility poles, or providing turn-only lanes. |
| discusses scenarios where a physical characteristic | | | | Wasted Land Area |
| of the parcel is the problem. | | | | Sometimes the usable portion of a parcel is just |
| Every real estate parcel can be used for | | | | not enough because land area is lost (i.e., cannot |
| something. The second and third articles in the | | | | be developed) due to physical characteristics such |
| Land Development Values series discuss how | | | | as floodplain, slopes, wetlands, woodlands or other |
| uses are permitted under the current zoning | | | | "protected" resources. Common sense dictates |
| either automatically or upon meeting certain | | | | that it may be difficult or impossible to achieve an |
| conditions. Those articles also explain when other | | | | efficient land development layout (one that |
| types of real estate developments may be | | | | maximizes the parcel yield while minimizing the |
| possible by obtaining some sort of change, such | | | | cost of horizontal improvements) if the parcel has |
| as a variance or a rezoning. Sometimes, however, | | | | an irregular shape. |
| what is permitted or possible (even if favorable to | | | | Non-contiguous Land Area |
| the type of land development you want to do) | | | | It is not unusual to find parcels with the same |
| becomes almost irrelevant because the land parcel | | | | owner that are separated from each other by |
| has some incurable physical defect. Here are | | | | either existing roads or properties owned by |
| some examples. | | | | somebody else. The amount of contiguous |
| Landlocked Parcels | | | | acreage becomes relevant where zoning |
| Municipal zoning and development ordinances | | | | ordinance provisions specify minimum parcel area |
| typically will not permit a subdivision or | | | | requirements for certain land uses. |
| development of a parcel (other than a single | | | | Suppose you were thinking of buying two parcels |
| residential building lot) unless the property owns | | | | from the same owner. Parcel "A" is 20 acres and |
| frontage on an existing street. This defect, | | | | Parcel "B" is 30 acres but they are across the |
| therefore, cannot be "cured" by gaining access to | | | | road from each other. The ordinance requires that |
| the street by an easement through an adjoining | | | | a site developed into a particular use have at least |
| property because an easement does not transfer | | | | 50 acres. The seller's property may consist of a |
| ownership rights to that land area. It merely gives | | | | total of 50 acres, but for purposes of determining |
| the recipient some rights to cross over or use | | | | if it meets the site area requirement, it will be |
| that portion of the neighbor's property for a | | | | treated as two separate parcels. So unless you |
| specific purpose over a certain period of time. | | | | were able to purchase enough land adjoining either |
| You'd have to purchase adjoining land with a | | | | "A" or "B" to have contiguous land area of at |
| sufficient amount of frontage and tack it onto the | | | | least 50 acres, the type of real estate |
| parcel you wanted to develop. This could | | | | development that you wanted to do would |
| negatively impact the feasibility of the deal. | | | | probably not be possible. |
| Too Little or Too Much Frontage | | | | |