Sat 28 Feb, 2009
PART ONE – ‘Metes and Bounds’ Land Division in Michigan
Comments (0) Filed under: General, Law, Rural, The Zoning GuruTags: Land Division
Three types of land divisions are permitted under Michigan law:
Land developers “created” the most recent type of land division using Michigan’s Condominium Act (Public Act 59 of 1978, as amended) to establish a popular form of development known as:
In addition, the Land Division Act (Public Act 288 of 1967, as amended) allows two more “traditional” types of land divisions:
2. Subdivision plats; and
3. Metes and bounds or “unplatted” lot splits.
This article will focus on metes and bounds land division, which is a method of describing land using:
- references to the Michigan township and range system and county division;
- local geographic characteristics;
- a point of beginning (and ending) of the legal description, which must “close” to form a polygon;
- directions of bearing (compass directions and degrees);
- distance measurements along parcel boundaries; and
- land area enclosed by the legal description.
This is the basis for many rural legal descriptions of property, which may look something like this:
Metes and bounds land division examples (Michigan Township Association, 8/2004)
Beginning at the Center of Section 13, T5S, R6E, Ex Township, Ample County, Michigan (the township, range, and county where the parcel is located), thence N00°46’40″W (a “direction of bearing“) 1723.97 feet (a “distance measurement“) along the North and South ¼ line of said Section 13 to the Centerline of Morewhere Road (a “local geographic feature“) for a Place of Beginning; thence N44°00’15″E 241.29 feet along the Centerline of said Morewhere Road; thence N43°26’20″E 15.12 feet along the Centerline of said Morewhere Road; thence S40°06’25″E 263.18 feet; thence S07°41’40″E 437.43 feet; thence S00°46’40″E 195.76 feet; thence S89°13’20″W 1046.53 feet to the Centerline of said Morewhere Road; thence N44°00’15″E 917.85 feet along the Centerline of said Morewhere Road to the Place of Beginning, containing 11.21 acres of land, more or less, subject to easements, conditions, restrictions and exceptions of record, if any.
The boundaries of a metes and bounds land division may also refer to “permanent” markers or monuments placed on the ground by the land surveyor, where there are no suitable natural reference points or geographic features.
The Land Division Act allows a limited number of such lot splits, based upon the size of the “parent parcel” and formulas in the Act. The 1997 amendments to the Land Division Act established that all parcels lawfully existing on March 31, 1997 (the effective date of the amendment) must be considered to be “parent parcels” for purposes of determining the number of permitted lot splits.
The graphic at right shows examples of metes and bounds lot splits using the Act’s formulas.
In addition to the Land Division Act requirements, the proposed lots must conform to any dimensional standards (minimum lot width, lot area, and road access) contained in the community’s zoning ordinance.
To read PART TWO of What am I? – ‘metes and bounds’ land division in Michigan, click here.