Remedy for low land

[Stuka]

I found 3 acres in the countryside, Texas Gulf Coast, that I am interested in. While there are developed homes surrounding it, this piece if wooden and not cleared. It has palmetto plants aplenty and some pin oaks. The whole area has palmettos, not just this piece, so my question is: if I clear this property, can I reasonably expect it to be similar to the surrounding properties, They appear reasonably dry, I'm sure the yards have water after a few days hard rain. Not sure if the property in question is actually lower than the surrounding properties or what. To help with drainage, is it a good idea to dig a pond and use the fill to build on? Would a pond help with the drainage, you know, a way to centralize all the run off into one spot, and allow the rest to stay drier?

 

[bigtiller]

Is there a way to find out why the developers never built on it? They had a reason, maybe it was the trees, water or something else.

 

[Cord]

I'd start my quest with the local planning office. What is the property zoned as? Is a zoning change required to build upon it? Is it in a FEMA flood plane? Is it protected? What are the building set backs and allowable uses? Usually they are willing to help because they want to prevent the problems that arise when people don't call first. To start the process you'll need the tax ID number. Generally you can find this by searching the counties GIS website.

 

[roadhunter]

Gut feeling is there is some reason that property was never developed while the others were. But you never know until you do some research. Could be anything from an indian burial ground to a piece of property with building restrictions.

 

[drdoolittle]

Property might be considered a wetlands. Sometimes to develop property that contains wetlands, a designated portion is reserved to be undeveloped. I would check to see if it's classified as wetlands because if it is there are a LOT of restrictions on what you can do to or with the property. And a wetland is often not wet except during the normal rainy season. I've seen many pieces of property hang out too be sold for years here in Louisiana because they are classified as wetlands. One place was 20 acres of pasture but due to it being classified as wetlands, the owner could not even plant hay on the property and had to be careful grazing it in case there was damage. Looking at the field, it did not look like a wetland at all.

 

[EddieWalker]

You really need to walk the land to see what's going on. Building on fill might be an option, but it can get expensive compacting it properly. Especially the higher you go. Have you talked to the neighbors? Best thing is wait for a really big storm and go see what it looks like right afterwards.