I have about 36 acres just south of Hallettsville in Lavaca county that I'll be selling. It has about 600 ft of highway 77 frontage and is close enough to town to have some commercial value. We're looking to subdivide the acreage into 2-3 smaller parcels along the highway and then selling the remaining 30 +/- acres as another parcel.

Do I need to go to the county first for their approval? What would I be requesting of them? I'm assuming I'd then need to work with a surveyor to put together a plat? Or do I have those steps inr everse order?

I'm an agent, but obviously not experienced with the subdivision aspect of real estate. Lastly, would it make more sense for me to market the entire 36 acres, but advertise that we'd be willing to subdivide?

Thanks in advance!

I would reach out to County office and ask about their process and fees. They probably will not provide "recommendation" for surveyor but might give you a couple names of local surveyors familiar with their platting process. Each county has their own rules for minimum Lot size and/or road frontage that you will need to follow for county approval.

Also depending on city/county agreements and distance from city limits you may need to submit to the City for their approval.

Depends on county subdivision regulations, if they have any, and whether it's in city ETJ.

Couple things here. If you keep the new lots 10 acres or more you can subdivide it with only a legal description and you don't need anyone's approval typically. Problem is at that size you run out of dirt rather fast. Also, it seems like if I divide a tract into 4 lots or less we usually stay under the threshold for problems and a surveyor can get it done. We do denser divisions too but that will trigger engineering, city council, county commissioners, road and bridge departments, full planting, etc. I don't have the patience any more to play that game so I typically keep it to 4 lots. Just my .02 and I'm not familiar with your county's rules.

jjdavis85 said:

---

I have about 36 acres just south of Hallettsville in Lavaca county that I'll be selling. It has about 600 ft of highway 77 frontage and is close enough to town to have some commercial value. We're looking to subdivide the acreage into 2-3 smaller parcels along the highway and then selling the remaining 30 +/- acres as another parcel.

Do I need to go to the county first for their approval? What would I be requesting of them? I'm assuming I'd then need to work with a surveyor to put together a plat? Or do I have those steps inr everse order?

I'm an agent, but obviously not experienced with the subdivision aspect of real estate. Lastly, would it make more sense for me to market the entire 36 acres, but advertise that we'd be willing to subdivide?

Thanks in advance!

---

Using your numbers and a 2:1 lot size ratio:
2 x 3-acre tracts requires 511-feet of frontage
3 x 2-acre tracts requires 626-feet of frontage

Retain enough frontage to access the remainder tract for any use a potential buyer may have. 60-feet is a very common minimum frontage required in City/County platting regulations. That isn't enough for some folks/purposes. I doubt your 2-3 lot development will support any public right-of-way dedication due to the construction costs associated with that but you might ask a local developer/civil engineer/contractor about that as it could greatly change your frontage concerns.

You need to have some level of understanding of the County's process in order to be in the driver's seat of a project rather than having the County dictate it to you (applies more in some jurisdictions than in others).
Start with their authorizing statute. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.232.htm
Then read their brand new Subdivision Regulations posted on the County Homepage. https://www.co.lavaca.tx.us/

Get with your local TxDOT office and make sure your lot size/frontage works with their minimum driveway spacing on US 77.

You can approach the County/surveyor in whichever order you like, however...
1) Not all surveyors want to deal with platting.
2) The surveyor you end up working with may save you a lot of time and headaches by already knowing the County's process if you start with them.

I don't have remote access to Lavaca County's plat records and I don't know the local surveyors very well or I'd try to make a recommendation. You can get a quick feel for who will do the work by going down to the County Clerk's office and looking through the last ~5-years of filed plats (10 minutes in the office). That'll give you a short list of surveyors to interview for doing the work.

jjdavis85 said:

---

I have about 36 acres just south of Hallettsville in Lavaca county that I'll be selling. It has about 600 ft of highway 77 frontage and is close enough to town to have some commercial value. We're looking to subdivide the acreage into 2-3 smaller parcels along the highway and then selling the remaining 30 +/- acres as another parcel.

Do I need to go to the county first for their approval? What would I be requesting of them? I'm assuming I'd then need to work with a surveyor to put together a plat? Or do I have those steps inr everse order?

I'm an agent, but obviously not experienced with the subdivision aspect of real estate. Lastly, would it make more sense for me to market the entire 36 acres, but advertise that we'd be willing to subdivide?

Thanks in advance!

---

I am looking for land in Lavaca county. Have you listed your property yet?