Ed Vitale: Building: A Self-Help Guide For The Owner Builder

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Some of the bulk requirements found in the zoning law at times conflict with the area requirements that a municipality may have adopted in its building or housing codes. Local governments are notorious for not reviewing their different ordinances for such inconsistencies and, if you've done your homework, you might use these differences to your advantage.

The homesteader, farmer, or rural owner-builder will not be confronted with zoning ordinances to a large degree since such land use laws are generally found only in metropolitan and suburban areas and not—at least not yet!—in places where there has been no significant population growth. If you're building your own shelter near a big city, however, watch out! You may not be able to construct that home you want to put up on the vacant property you bought in the middle of the heavy industrial zone.

The municipal clerk of the town in which the property you intend to buy is located can tell you if a zoning ordinance has been adopted by the municipality or county. If such a code is in effect, I would advise you to purchase your own copy of the regulations (at a cost, probably, of anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00) and read it. Being familiar with and understanding the zoning ordinance is a good start on learning to read (and understand) the building code that is probably also in effect.

SUBDIVISION ORDINANCES. These laws regulate the division of land. (Example: the carving out of 250 individual lots from one 100-acre farm.) If no such ordinance has been adopted by a county, municipality, or other governing body any division of land within the jurisdiction in question can take place without governmental approval. Also, whenever you purchase all the property in one particular tract that a seller owns, then the subdivision ordinance—even if one is in effect—is, of no concern since there is no division of land. But if you contemplate buying only 10 acres of a 100-acre parcel and there is such an ordinance, you have a hurdle to overcome . . . BEFORE you purchase the property, much less start to build a structure on it.

(Like zoning, each municipality within a state has the option of whether or not to adopt a subdivision ordinance ... and not all of them do. Again, the areas experiencing the most population growth are the ones most likely to adopt such an ordinance in an attempt to prevent haphazard development.)

Let's say that a subdivision ordinance is in effect in an area in which you want to buy a portion of a seller's property. It is very likely that, before the land can be divided and sold, the planning board or subdivision committee (or whatever name the ordinance uses to designate the governmental body empowered to pass on subdivisions) must review the proposal. The body will probably ask for a sketch (possibly even a professionally engineered survey) that outlines the manner in which the property is being divided and which shows any other improvements that might be required under the ordinance. The planning board will then review the sketch against the criteria set forth in the ordinance and, if all requirements have been complied with, the subdivision will be approved. The property can then be divided and sold.

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