Land Use
How Land Becomes Home: The Process of Community Development in Dollars by Don Westphal
All Images Courtesy of Don Westphal
T
Tracking in detail the rise in value of a manufactured
Local site plan approval: Detailed engineering
home community from raw land to a completed, filled
plans may or may not be needed at this stage in
project would be the subject of a book. This article is
the planning process depending on local and state
a condensed look at the increase in value through the
regulations. This process further defines the lot
various stages of the development process.
yield and dictates the level of improvements required for the finished project. This leads to another
The Land
increase in the value proposition.
Whether it’s zoned or not, the raw land is valued on a per-acre basis. Several factors influence its value, including location, size, topography, availability of sewer and water.
The Approval Process Zoning: Once optioned, if the property is not zoned, achieving the difficult rezoning milestone results in the next jump in value. Based on initial sketches one can determine the number of homesites that can
Engineered construction plans and Permit to
be obtained. At the completion of this phase value
construct: At this stage, the value takes another
shifts then from the value per acre to value per site.
jump. Bids can be taken from contractors and accurate construction costs calculated.
24 | MAY / JUNE 2022 EDITION
