Subdivision and Lot Split Surveys on Long Island
Considering a division of your property? Discuss a subdivision survey with Aerial Land Surveying, D.P.C. Share the parcel location, your proposed division and any direction from your planning team so our office can explain the survey scope, pricing and available timing.
Connect the Survey to Your Proposal
The Land You Want to Divide
Much of the work we perform in this area supports lot splits, sometimes called minor land subdivisions. Each municipality defines those terms and its requirements differently. Tell us whether you are exploring a possible division, responding to a planning department or preparing work your professional team has already defined.
A street address is a useful start, but include the parcel identifiers if the property spans more than one tax lot. Explain which land is involved and what you hope to do with it. An existing sketch can help communicate the idea, provided it is clearly identified as a proposal rather than an approved division.
The Decision You're Preparing For
For a subdivision map, your capable design professional, such as an engineer, uses Aerial's survey work to prepare the map. Aerial provides the agreed survey information and deliverables; the survey engagement does not by itself include civil design or the complete subdivision-map preparation and filing process. Identify the next decision or application stage and the professional who will use the survey.
If your project concerns a lot-line adjustment or another parcel change, describe it directly. Different authorities use particular terms and procedures, so share the wording from the planning office or professional advising you. A familiar label such as "lot split" does not establish which procedure applies to your land.
Confirm the Approval Path
Your Town, Village and Reviewing Agencies
The authorities responsible for the property determine the applicable review process. Ask your planning professional or local planning office which jurisdiction handles the proposal and what information is required. A postal place name alone can be insufficient to identify the reviewing authority, particularly where a town and an incorporated village share a name.
Southampton's Planning Board information describes that board's role in local land-use review. Its procedures apply within its jurisdiction. Use the relevant town, village or county instructions for your parcel rather than assuming one Long Island process covers every property.
Survey Work and Permission to Divide
A subdivision survey supports the proposal with the agreed property documentation. Approval of the proposed division is a separate decision for the responsible authorities. Having a survey prepared does not establish how many lots will be allowed or whether each proposed lot can be developed as intended.
Before requesting a proposed lot split, consider the applicable zoning and minimum frontage requirements with your design professional or local reviewing authority. Also discuss access, sewage disposal, water supply and other project requirements with the people responsible for those issues. Our office needs to know what survey information they request.
Approval and Filing Requirements
Depending on the property and local procedure, some owners can file a lot split with the clerk and obtain new tax-map numbers, with or without an attorney's assistance. This is case dependent, not a process or outcome that applies to every parcel. Ask the clerk, reviewing authority and your professional team which documents and sequence apply. The Suffolk County Clerk's subdivision-map guidance is a reference for maps filed there, rather than a substitute for approval of a particular proposal.
Tell our office if you already have an approval letter, conditions or filing instructions. Include the full document and its date. A request to prepare material for an initial review should be distinguished from work requested after approval or comments have been issued.
Survey Work and Permission to Divide
Define the Survey Deliverables
Property Records and Proposed Parcels
Share the existing survey, deed information and plans you have, along with the proposed division. The office can discuss which records are relevant to the requested survey work. If your attorney or planning professional is coordinating the documents, identify that contact so questions can be directed appropriately.
Depending on the agreed scope, potential deliverables include an existing-conditions survey, proposed Parcel A and Parcel B surveys, and proposed metes-and-bounds descriptions for each parcel. Where access easements are involved, the work may also include applicable easement descriptions and sketches. Ask the intended recipient to identify what is needed so the quote reflects the requested deliverables.
Information for the Design Team
A planning or engineering team can require site information beyond the parcel-division documentation. For terrain and requested site features, discuss a topographic survey. Identify the extent of the area involved and any requirements your professional team has supplied.
If the project includes a request from a health department, mention that alongside the subdivision inquiry. Our health department survey service addresses survey requests tied to the actual agency instructions. Separate deliverables can support the same project, and each should have a clear purpose and recipient.
Prepare Your Subdivision Survey Request
Information to Share First
You can begin with the property and your intended next step. The following details help our office connect your inquiry with the scope your project team needs.
- The address, town or village, and parcel identifiers for the land involved.
- A short description or sketch of the proposed division.
- The current stage, including any planning discussions or applications already made.
- Existing surveys, plans, written requirements or agency comments you have.
- The project contact, intended recipient and date you're working toward.
Label an early idea as an early idea. You do not need to present it as an approved plan to start the conversation. If an important requirement is still being confirmed, explain that so the office can discuss the work appropriate to the current stage.
Access and Existing Conditions
Tell us who can authorize access and whether tenants, contractors or a property manager need to be involved. Identify locked areas, ongoing work or other conditions that affect arrangements. For land spanning several parcels, explain any differences in ownership or access authorization to the office.
If the proposal or the property changes after the initial inquiry, send the update with the same property reference. Revisions can affect the requested survey work and its timing. The office will discuss the effect of the new information before treating the original scope as current.
Plan the Work and Its Timing
Scope-Based Pricing
The quote depends on the land involved, the available records and the deliverables being requested. Explain the intended submission and ask what is included in the proposed work. An initial investigation, a particular drawing and later revisions should be discussed in relation to the requirements you have received.
Identify the person authorized to approve the survey engagement and the person handling technical questions. They can be different members of the project team. Keeping those roles clear helps the office discuss pricing and requested changes with the appropriate contact.
Your Submission Schedule
Share planning-meeting or submission dates as soon as you know them. Our office will discuss available timing for survey work. Agency review, professional design and map filing have their own requirements, so the overall project schedule should be coordinated with the people responsible for those steps.
Need a job done in two to three business days? Contact us for expedited pricing and availability. Describe the particular survey deliverable you need and its deadline. That invitation concerns availability for the requested work and does not promise an expedited subdivision approval.
Subdivision Survey Questions
Can the Survey Tell Me How Many Lots Are Allowed?
The proposal must be considered under the applicable planning and other requirements. A survey provides the agreed property information for that process. Ask the responsible authority or your planning professional about the allowable division before treating a sketch as an approved outcome.
Is a Small Lot Split Automatically Exempt From Review?
Confirm the procedure with the authority responsible for your parcel. Municipalities define minor land subdivisions differently, and the number of proposed lots alone does not establish an exemption. Give our office the instructions you receive so the survey scope supports the applicable process.
Can I Start Without a Completed Design?
Yes. Explain the property, the idea you're considering and the next decision you need to make. Our office can discuss the survey request at that stage and identify the information needed to define the work.
What If the Planning Team Changes the Proposal?
Send the revised direction, identify its date and explain which earlier version it replaces. The office can discuss whether the change affects work already requested, the deliverable or the schedule. Keep agency comments attached to the revision when they are the reason for it.
Who Should Receive the Survey?
Identify the project professional or agency contact using it and share their delivery requirements. If several people need a copy, tell the office during the scope discussion. For an existing order, use our contact page with the property and order reference.
Discuss Your Parcel With Our Office
Coverage for Your Property
We serve Suffolk County, Nassau County and the Hamptons, plus the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Rockland County and Westchester County. Manhattan is outside our service area. Share the location and proposed work so the office can discuss your inquiry in the context of the actual parcel.
Begin With Your Next Planning Step
Call (631) 256-3019, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or email surveys@aeriallandsurveying.com. Tell us what you want to divide, what stage you've reached and who is advising you. Our office will discuss the scope, quote and available timing with you.