Residential Subdivisions – Get A Land Surveyor
Residential Subdivisions
A residential subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision. If it is used for housing it is typically known as a housing subdivision or housing development, although some developers tend to call these areas communities.
The SCPEA included the following definition:
“‘Subdivision’ means the division of a lot, tract, or parcel of land into two or more lots, plats, sites, or other divisions of land for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale or of building development. It includes resubdivision and, when appropriate to the context, relates to the process of subdividing or to the land or territory subdivided.”[2]:6
Attached to this definition was the following footnote:
“for the purpose of sale or of building development: Every division of a piece of land into two or more lots, parcels or parts is, of course, a subdivision. The intention is to cover all subdivision of land where the immediate or ultimate purpose is that of selling the lots or building on them. The object of inserting a definition in the text of the act is to avoid the inclusion, within the planning commission’s control, of such cases as a testator’s dividing his property amongst his children, partners’ dividing firm property amongst themselves on dissolution, or cases of that nature.”
This definition, and its clarifying footnote, serves to underscore some important points about the legal nature of subdivisions. Importantly, a subdivision does not need to be sold, in whole or in part, for its resulting pieces to be considered separate parcels of land. A subdivision plat approved by a local planning commission, once recorded in a registry of deeds, is generally deemed to have created the parcels of land identified on the plat itself.[1]
Ludlow Engineering designs and helps get approved residential subdivisions. Residential subdivisions are subdivisions in the residential sector which includes single resident homes, multi-family residents and more. Call today 435-623-0897 for more information.
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