Anyone have experience with Outlots?

Question

At the back of my neighborhood popped up a listing for land (really unusual here in the suburbs of DC). It looks to be an outlot (which from my understanding tends to be an unbuildable lot but could serve a purpose like potential roadway expansion, stormwater, etc).

Interesting thing is that it's next to a TON of land owned by State of Maryland. Anyone have experience with turning an outlot into something?

Max Comperatore · Answer

Outlots in Maryland suburban plats are almost always designated with letter labels like Outlot A or Outlot B during the original subdivision recording, specifically because they failed standard building requirements.

In Montgomery or Prince George's County, nine times out of ten an outlot was set aside for a dedicated purpose like stormwater retention, septic reserve, wetland buffer, or an unbuilt road dedication that the state or county required. Because it sits adjacent to State of Maryland land, you need to check whether the state holds any drainage easements or future right-of-way taking rights across the parcel.

To turn an outlot into a buildable fee-simple parcel in Maryland, you have to go through a formal conversion plat process with the county planning commission, which is basically a minor re-subdivision. You will need to prove the lot meets current road frontage minimums, health department perc or sewer tie-in capacity, and that converting it does not violate the stormwater management plan for the neighboring subdivision.

Before spending a dime on an offer, pull the original recorded subdivision plat from Maryland land records (mdlandrec.net) and read the plat notes. The plat notes will explicitly state why the surveyor designated it an outlot in the first place, which saves you months of guessing.

Vladimirs Veiss · Answer

@Adrienne Rammohan thank you for posting this, a really interesting find! I can't speak for Maryland, but Latvia has a similar concept, and I'd love to hear if the logic is the same over there.

In Latvia, where I ran a construction company for 15 years, a leftover plot too small or oddly shaped to build on is its own legal category. When a public owner sells one, it is offered to the adjoining owners, and if two of them want it, they bid against each other. The law simply assumes the value sits with the neighbor, which is pretty much Jay's point above.

So there the first question is usually not "can we build" but "who needs this strip": a neighbor who wants a bigger yard or access, or whoever plans the road or drainage behind it. The boundary plan and the Land Register entry usually answer that, so Max's advice to read the plat notes sounds very familiar.

That's exactly the kind of question we run through in the renovation system we're building: our experts look not only at the house plan but, where possible, at the land documents too, so nobody runs into surprises later. A problem found on paper is always cheaper than one found on site.

Is your own home close to it, so it could work as a buffer or extra yard, or are you looking at it purely as an investment? Have a great evening!

Adrienne Rammohan · Answer

So helpful Mark--thanks so much!

Mark Andales · Answer

Hey Adrienne! I noticed you mentioned having trouble finding the original plat. One resource that might help is Maryland's PLATS.NET, which is maintained by the State Archives.

It's actually separate from the regular Maryland land-records search, so if you've mainly been looking through deeds, that might explain why it's been difficult to locate.

You can search using a plat book and page number, or try the subdivision name through the advanced search. Sometimes the property's assessment record or an older deed will have the reference you need.

There's also an interesting little detail with Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Some plat references use an "A" prefix that may need to be cross-referenced before you can locate the actual plat.

Not sure which county your property is in or whether you've already tried that database, but I figured it was worth mentioning since you were having trouble finding the original document.

Here's the official resource:https://plats.msa.maryland.gov/

Adrienne Rammohan · Answer

Thanks @Max Comperatore I'll try the plat again (didn't find from original search before I posted). I must have missed something!

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

great thorough response. Its funny how a lot of these type of parcel go to tax sale someone buys it having no clue.. once they figured out there is no market for them they try to resell or they stop paying tax's and it goes to tax sale again in another ( however many years failure to pay tax's puts it back on the tax sale list) Sometimes though one can buy one of these and control someones right of way etc and there will be value in selling to a neighbor or a developer ( rare but it happens) famous case in San Francisco

Anyone have experience with Outlots?

Anyone have experience with Outlots?

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