Use a pencil and ruler to sketch a map of subdivision lots.
If you have a tract of land consisting of several acres, you may contemplate subdividing it into lots. Before you make the commitment, however, consider laying out the lots on paper to get an idea of the number and size of each and where they would be located in relation to each other. You must determine how each lot in the subdivision will access the public road, and will need to consider the location of any low-lying areas unsuitable for building.
Instructions
1. Locate any survey that you may have acquired when you purchased or mortgaged the property showing the perimeter layout of the land and reflecting the scale that the surveyor used to draw the property. The scale will be the distance used on paper to match the actual distance on the ground. If you do not have a survey, you will have to sketch your perimeter description on paper using the legal description in your deed. If you are unfamiliar with legal descriptions, this may be very difficult and require the assistance of a surveyor or title researcher.
2. Sketch the lot locations on your survey within its perimeter description. For simplicity's sake, assume you have a rectangular 2-acre parcel of land lying north of the public road that has 210 feet of road frontage and is 420 feet deep. Realizing that some of your lots will not have road frontage, you will need a road inside your subdivision that runs from the public road to the back lots. Many governmental jurisdictions will not accept a road for maintenance unless it is at least 50 feet wide, so assuming a surveyor's scale of "1 inch equals 50 feet," measure a 1-inch line representing the width of your 50-foot road in the center of the south line of your property along the public road. Draw parallel lines representing the east and west boundaries of the 50-foot road running from the south property line to a point that lies 105 feet south of the northern property line. It will not be necessary to extend the road all the way to the north property line, as your objective is only to provide access to all lots. Eighty feet of property will remain on each side of the 50-foot road.
3. Determine the size of the lots on either side of the 50-foot road to be 80 x 100 feet in this example. Using the scale established, measure three 100-foot, or 2-inch, lines and one 105-foot line along the west boundary of the property, beginning at the southwest corner and proceeding to the north property line. For each 100-foot segment, draw a perpendicular line running east and west to connect the west property line to the west line of the 50-foot road. Perform the same action for those lots east of the 50-foot road beginning at the southeast corner and drawing lots to lie between the east line of the 50-foot road and the east property line. Draw a line from the center of the northern property line due south to intersect the north line of the 50-foot road. This will be the line separating your two back lots, which will each measure 105 feet x 105 feet. Number or letter each of the 8 lots in your newly mapped subdivision.
Tags: 50-foot road, property line, public road, line 50-foot, line 50-foot road, back lots, east west