All Forum Posts by: Jamie Hora

A civil engineer is a great place to start.  At this point, a small contract can be initiated for them to do all your due-diligence and background research on the site. The key items to understand are:
- zoning and lot requirements, to determine how many lots you can develop at required lot size.  Or if the site needs to be rezoned

- locations of existing utilities. 

- Stormwater/detention requirements and any restrictions due to site topography

From there you can go down the road for a surveyor and a full engineering contract.  You CAN reach out to local GC's, but I would recommend developing a site plan and understanding some of the above items beforehand. 

Is that size accurate, I think you may mean 0.23 acres each. But, your question depends on some variables, such as:

- Is this a development that requires public or private street to be installed?

- Does it require extension of public utilities for water & sanitary service to the lots?

- What is the soil condition, and will it require any special treatment to be suitable for building?

- Do lots needs platted and/or rezoned?

- Do lots require tree/brush removal across the entire lot? (other than the tree you mentioned.)

It is good that you note the lots are flat, that should eliminate the need for any dirt haul in/off, and any retaining walls.  As an engineer, the items I've listed are typically what I refer to as development costs prior to building. 

In my experience, if it does not require any "re-zoning", you wont need to formally inform nearby property owners.  You are subdividing, which is only requiring you to replat and not change anything regarding the lot zoning.  If it is something that you feel inclined to do, you could send a handwritten letter to the immediate neighbors? 

@Roupnel Pierre youre welcome. Thats good you already have a survey & wont need to rezone.  But it is definitely worth having a phone call with a City Planning Department staff member to understand their costs.  It is usually detailed online, but things like Water/Sewer tap fees, which are the large costs, are not always shown.   

So I do not have an excel sheet, but here are a few costs to think about. Without knowing more about your site, this are just things for you to consider. Not all may apply, and this is definitely not a comprehensive list. But:

- Soft costs for architecture, engineering, surveying, geotechnical.  Engineering & Surveying may not necessary if you are only dealing with 1 lot. Will this project require rezoning the lot? Will you need platting?

- Will you require development of the land prior? (I.E. do you need to extend roads, water, wastewater, etc? Is the land relatively flat or will it require hauling dirt or building retaining walls?)

- Permitting Costs with your jurisdiction. City review fees, tree/park fees, inspection fees, Water/Sewer impact fees (potentially very large!)

Hope this helps as a starting point!

I second @Joe Splitrock comments.  If you have not done developing before, a 700-acre development is quite the first project to learn on.  I'm sure you could work your way through it with a good team, but the bumps & 'lessons learned' on a 700-acre project would be much larger scale ($$$) than compared to learning the process on a 10-acre subdivison.  

Best of luck if you go for it!

They are not willing to cooperate in what sense?  Not provide you information? Not cost-share in a remediation solution?

Do you have a copy of the Phase II survey?  There should be remediation procedures recommended in there by the environmental who completed the report.  If not, I would reach out to that company and get their thoughts. 

Hi @Kati Dang and @Don Johnson.  Do y'all have more targeted questions?  You'll get much better help & advice from the experienced members BP if you can explain what part of the process you are in, what exact questions you have, area's you need assistance in, etc. 

Because I do not know much about your projects, my first recommendation is doing as much due-diligence on the site as you can first, then reach out to the governing City/jurisdiction where you'll need permitting.  Understand the zoning code and requirements of your land, will you need to rezone(?), what the zoning allows you to do and what it restricts.  If the sites are larger than 1/2 acre (NOT AN EXACT NUMBER), and you are needing to develop the land (i.e. roads, utilities, mass grading) I would then recommend involving a civil engineer on a site plan and to do a more in-depth due-diligence.  However that could be irrelevant depending on what your exact project needs. 

Best of luck on the projects!

I would recommend contacting the County about your plan in order to speak with someone about the process.  Even though you seem to be in alignment with their future use plan, this sounds like it would still be classified as "rezoning".  Ask about the forms needed, public hearings, cost, etc that is required for zoning & platting.  Then I would recommend having a surveyor provide the platting documents to delineate the boundaries of the lots you are creating.   

Typically yes. For engineering, there is usually a threshold for when a licensed engineer is required to stamp drawings, I believe it is any improvements greater than 200 Sq Ft.  So if you're talking about construction of a new home, then I would most certainly believe it would be required to have a licensed architect or engineer approval.  I think that is a simple enough question where reaching out to the Permitting Dept. in the City or County they can quickly answer that question for you.