Sander Scott explains why Michigan zoning permits don't mean land is actually buildable. Wetlands, septic rules, road access, and infrastructure requirements create overlapping barriers that zoning alone doesn't address. A follow-up covers infrastructure specifically.
Why zoning doesn't tell you if land is buildable. Two properties can be zoned the exact same way, and one of them you can build on, the other you can't build on at all. This is where a lot of buyers get this wrong. In the last video, we talked about land division and how splits are calculated, but land division is only one part of the system because land in Michigan is controlled by multiple overlays. Overlapping layers. Today we're going to focus on zoning. Most buyers think if it's zoned residential, I can build a house. That's not how this works. Zoning tells you what is allowed in theory. Let that sink in. Zoning tells you what is allowed in theory. It does not tell you what's actually possible. Zoning is just one layer. To actually build, the property still has to pass land division rules, road access requirements, environmental constraints, infrastructure availability. Zoning sits on top of all of these. It does not override them. You can have land zoned residential where there's no legal road access, the entire parcel is wetlands, the septic system won't be approved, the buildable envelope or the buildable area is just too small. So even though zoning says yes, everything else says no. So when you're evaluating land, don't ask, "What's the zoning?" Ask, "What actually makes this buildable?" Because zoning alone does not answer that question. Remember, the zoning question is really what is allowed in theory. There are more practical matters that you have to consider, those other layers that are involved in evaluating vacant land. In the next video, we're going to look at another critical piece, and that's infrastructure. Because even if everything else checks out, if the infrastructure isn't there, then the land still doesn't work. Sander Scott.
