Zoning

[murstein]

So, in my quest to replace a condo with a minifarm, I've come across a couple of pieces of land up for auction. Problem is, they're zoned for other stuff. Does anyone have any experience with having a piece of property rezoned?

Comments

[brownkitty]

What are they zoned for? If for instance they're zoned for something that would let you and Laureth sell what you preserve from a garden or distill from an orchard, would that be a good thing and would it require rezoning?

[murstein]

One is zoned "Development," which seems to be planner-speak for "insert planned community here." The other is zoned "Commercial." While they're in different jurisdictions, neither zoning allows gardening for consumption or raising animals for food, and the "Commercial" precludes residing in place (with a minor exception, should it be a motel built and appropriately licensed on the property).

I'm also hoping that changing the zoning would have an impact on real estate taxes. The one zoned commercial has real estate taxes of $10,000/year, which might be enough to prevent our strategy of having one farm and the other work outside to bring in cash. That's enough to make the one that only costs four times our present real estate tax burden a bargain.

[jaiser]

Sadly, no experience other than second-hand. And that is several years old and all made it sound difficult. However, with the state of the market, etc., and the passage of time, perhaps this is not the case any longer. Best of luck!

[murstein]

Everything that I've heard makes it sound difficult, often expensive, and fraught with uncertainty. I'm afraid it seems that waiting for property already in a better zone might be best, especially since, if I buy undeveloped land, I'm expecting difficulty in getting the building inspectors to accept something less expensive to put up than a wood-frame house.