Vacant Lot Checklist
“Zoned residential” and “buildable” are not the same claim. A lot can be zoned correctly, priced fairly, and still turn out to need a federal wildlife permit, a wetland determination, or an environmental assessment before a shovel goes in the ground. This is the deeper, step-by-step version of the due diligence covered in buying vacant land in Florida, the actual sequence of checks and who to call for each one.
Short version: Work through ten checks before the due diligence period closes: a current boundary survey, a formal zoning verification from the county, confirmation of which water management district governs the parcel and whether wetlands are present, a gopher tortoise survey (and a scrub-jay survey specifically on the Lake Wales Ridge), a soil and percolation test if septic is needed, flood zone and elevation confirmation, written utility will-serve letters, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment if the land was ever agricultural, a title search for easements and encumbrances, and an impact fee estimate from the county. None of these are optional extras, each one can independently stop a project or add real cost.
Printable version:Download the buildable-lot checklist (PDF) – the same ten checks below, formatted to print and work through during your due-diligence period.
1. Get a current boundary survey
Older or never-surveyed lots are common enough in raw land that assuming the fence line or a description in the deed reflects the actual legal boundary is a real risk. A licensed Florida surveyor confirms the exact boundary, flags any encroachments, and identifies recorded easements crossing the property, information a title search alone won’t fully capture. This is also the document that will eventually certify total buildable area for permitting.
2. Get a formal zoning verification, not just a look at the map
Many Florida counties will issue a written zoning verification letter or take a pre-application meeting confirming, in writing, what a specific parcel is actually zoned for: permitted uses, minimum lot size, setbacks, height limits, and density. Reading the zoning map yourself is a starting point, how Florida zoning works covers the general framework, but a written confirmation from the county is worth having before removing a financing or zoning contingency.
3. Identify the water management district, and check for wetlands
This region is genuinely complicated: Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Polk, and Lake all sit where the boundaries of the St. Johns River, South Florida, and Southwest Florida water management districts overlap, and several of these counties have territory split between more than one district. Don’t assume which agency governs a specific parcel, confirm directly. Once identified, ask whether the parcel has ever had a wetland determination on file, or request one, since building on or near a jurisdictional wetland can require an Environmental Resource Permit and may limit how much of the lot is actually usable.
4. Order a gopher tortoise survey, and a scrub-jay survey if relevant
This is the step most buyers skip and shouldn’t. The gopher tortoise is a state-threatened species found across upland habitat throughout Florida, forests, pastures, even yards, not a rare or localized concern, and Florida has an estimated 785,000 of them. It’s illegal to disturb a burrow within 25 feet without an FWC permit, and doing so without one is a third-degree felony. A gopher tortoise survey before clearing tells you whether burrows are present and, if so, whether a simpler 10-or-fewer-burrows permit applies or a full relocation plan is needed. Separately, if the parcel sits along the Lake Wales Ridge, the sandy scrub spine running through Polk County and touching parts of Osceola and Lake, a Florida scrub-jay survey is worth adding, since that’s a federally threatened species with its own permitting process through US Fish and Wildlife.
5. Run a soil and percolation test if septic is on the table
If the lot won’t connect to municipal sewer, a percolation test during due diligence, not after closing, confirms whether the soil can actually support a conventional septic drain field, and at what size. Some lots, particularly smaller or wetter ones, can’t support a standard system at all and would need a more expensive alternative system or simply won’t perc. See sewer, septic, and drainage in Florida for how the approval process works once the test comes back.
6. Confirm the flood zone and base flood elevation
Pull the parcel’s FEMA flood zone and, if applicable, its base flood elevation. This affects foundation requirements, whether fill will be needed to build at all, future insurance cost, and in some flood zones, whether a lender will finance construction. Flood insurance in Florida covers the coverage side; for a vacant lot, the immediate question is buildability and cost, not just insurance.
7. Get utility availability in writing
A “will-serve” letter from the relevant water, sewer, and electric providers confirms, in writing, that service is actually available to the parcel, and under what conditions, rather than assuming based on nearby development. If extending service is required, this is also where a realistic cost estimate comes from.
8. If the land was ever agricultural, get a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
This is the check most land buyers have never heard of and genuinely should. Arsenic-based pesticides and cattle-dipping vat solutions were used heavily and legally across Florida citrus groves and cattle operations before the early 1970s, and residue persists in topsoil for decades. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection actively tracks this, has documented cases on former citrus land in this exact region (a former grove site in Lake Wales, Polk County, is one on record), and maintains statewide soil cleanup target levels specifically for legacy agricultural contamination. If a parcel was ever a citrus grove, pasture, or row crop operation, and much of Central Florida’s undeveloped land was, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment during due diligence is what protects a buyer from inheriting contamination, and the cleanup liability that comes with it, along with the deed.
9. Run a full title search
Beyond confirming clean ownership, a title search should surface every recorded easement, deed restriction, and lien on the parcel, information that affects both access (covered in the companion article) and what can actually be built. This is also where a mineral or subsurface rights reservation, less common in Florida than in some states but worth ruling out, would show up.
10. Get an impact fee estimate from the county
Before finalizing a construction budget, ask the county building or planning department for an impact fee estimate specific to the parcel, road, school, parks, and fire impact fees vary by jurisdiction and by what’s being built, and can add a meaningful, easy-to-underestimate cost on top of the building permit itself.
Printable version:Download the buildable-lot checklist (PDF)
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s worth doing on most undeveloped upland lots, not just ones that look like wildlife habitat. Gopher tortoises are found in forests, pastures, and yards throughout the state, an estimated 785,000 statewide, and disturbing an occupied burrow without an FWC permit is a third-degree felony.
Don’t assume. Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Polk, and Lake counties sit in the region where the St. Johns River, South Florida, and Southwest Florida water management districts overlap, and several of these counties have territory split between more than one. Confirm directly with the county or the district itself.
Arsenic-based pesticides and cattle-dipping vat chemicals were used legally and widely on Florida agricultural land before the early 1970s, and residue can persist in topsoil for decades. The state tracks documented cases on former agricultural parcels in this region, and a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment during due diligence is what protects a buyer from inheriting that contamination along with the deed.
A written confirmation from a water, sewer, or electric provider that service is actually available to a specific parcel, rather than assumed based on nearby development. It’s also typically where a realistic cost estimate for extending service comes from, if extension is needed.
Most of them, yes, a survey, zoning verification, title search, and flood zone check are close to universal. A few are conditional: a percolation test only matters if septic is needed, and a scrub-jay survey mainly matters for parcels along the Lake Wales Ridge specifically. When in doubt, ask the county or an environmental consultant rather than skipping a step.
Sources:
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/gopher-tortoise/rules-and-regulations/
https://sfwmd.gov/who-we-are
https://www.lakewalesfl.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/7406?fileID=7838
https://floridadep.gov/waste/waste-cleanup/content/site-investigation-section