Purchasing land in Midwest - rezoning it - any advice?
Purchasing agricultural land and rezoning commercial for retail and hotel. Anyone have experience or advice they can share with me? Thanks!
[{"id": "i0r97sx", "text": "Where in the Midwest? Definitely set up a meeting with the local government entity as part of Due Diligence to see if they will support this use. Do this prior to submitting any applications. Each town/city/entity will have their own process but it's always a good idea to get on the decision makers good side by showing respect.", "replies": [{"id": "i0r9q73", "text": "Amazing. It\u2019s Ohio and Wyoming", "replies": [{"id": "i0rbibg", "text": "Wyoming is not the midwest lol", "replies": [{"id": "i0rc92t", "text": "Lol I\u2019m a New Yorker \ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i0r9wku", "text": "Advice:  Head down to the zoning dept and talk with an agent.  \n\nExperience:  disclosure- I have not rezoned anything in the Midwest, but I have gotten variances.  My experiences with the zoning depts in Ohio have shown them using the most excellent practices and being accommodating.  I have talked with a local city about rezoning a lot from sfd to mulit, they said \"Yep, no problem.  Give us some preliminary plans and we will get this done for you.\"  However, I haven't gotten to this yet because other projects have priority.\n\nI believe you probably won't have any problems- they are motivated by being able to increase the property taxes and business taxes.\n\n All of the other times I worked to do rezoning were in California or Oregon, they were obstructionists.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i0rb7gs", "text": "if it's small town, you might want to call the city admin.\n\nI'm recently going through the same process, building a hotel and renovate a retail space on 4 acres land. you can hire a local attorney and talk to city admin.\n\nwhat I think how this should go is \n\nyou sign PSA then city knows you're serious about buying the land, so the Planning Commission can add your rezoning request in their next monthly meeting.\n\nmake sure you can backout, if the rezoning is not approved.\n\nWe are doing something really similar, and the city admin has lead us to a program that reimburse 30% of our construction expense including HVAC, Plumbing and roof. \n\nexcuse my english and good luck.", "replies": [{"id": "i0rpmdw", "text": "What city is this?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i0re4ej", "text": "Do some research on your cities general plan. It\u2019s essentially the city\u2019s planning constitution. It should give you an idea of what could be possible based on what the City has planned for. If you reach a point where you a zoning variance isn\u2019t plausible, general plan amendments can be done but it\u2019s a long arduous process. Good luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i0sifsj", "text": "Very location specific on whether you can rezone. Best thing you can do is speak with your local city planner or local civil engineer on what it will take to get this done. Share the property information with them, and they will be happy to walk you through the process. This is what I have done, and worked wonders. Each city is different, and what works here, may not work where you are located.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i0tzbuk", "text": "Former elected official here. Don't buy the land. Get an option to buy the land contingent on successful rezoning. Do your best to not spend a dime until the zoning board approves and then the elected officials approve based on your plan. Over here we call them PUDs Planned Unit Development. Where I'm from NIMBY oldsters flood the meetings and yell about too much traffic, or noise or flooding or \"what about the children!!\". Too often the elected officials are oldsters who don't want anything to change.  \n\n\nFind the mayor and quietly have a cup of coffee with them to gage interest. Then, have a cup with the village manager. If they don't show enthusiasm for it, you are wasting your time and money.  \n\n\nGood luck. Remember, work hard to not spend a dime until you know what will come out of the government process.", "replies": [{"id": "i12b1ag", "text": "Awesome advice, talking with the mayor now and they are enthusiastic", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]