Land Subdividing Restrictions /Convenants

I propose that a seller of land be able to check a box that would specify that land could never be subdivided.

Alternatives would be that when Linden auction land is sold, the that buyer could
- Specify that those lots could be never be subdivided
- All lots would always be at least of a specified minimum size

An Option for all the above would be that the lots could not be consolidated.

And in this vein, there are other variants; the purpose here to reduce the number of
future micro-lots. I think this could ensure and increase the quality of life in SL.

My movitation, here, is to stop people from buying micro-lots, put up ugly signs(say blue backgroud with red foreground, and then put the lots (say like 32 sq m) up for sale for 10,000 L$.

Mikhail Pasternak

But, after the land is locked with these restrictions, who could unlock them? What if the land has passed through many hands? Would the original seller who placed these "locks" generations ago have to be consulted? Furthermore, is there not a potential of abuse through landlocking itself? For example, buying a 512 m2 and then forcibly breaking it into 16m2 pieces and unallowing it to be resold, but farming it off to all manner of noiseboxers next to a more peaceful parcel?

I understand the purpose, but it may be considered fortunate some things will just never override the nice (or unfortunately, the lack of) in human beings.

I'm not sure about the non-subdividing setting, but I sure would like to see a checkbox on new sims bought at auction for land use classification.

The auction winner would be required to select "Commercial" or "Residential" (for example) at the time of purchase. Then this land use classification would be enforced at the sim level until/unless a proportional vote of the land owners changed the classification in the future.

Like most RL land use laws, one could be allowed to build a residence in a commercial zone, but NOT vice versa. This makes sense in the light of P2P teleporting, as it would naturally encourage (force) spatial aggregation of commercial enterprise, which is both beneficial to commercial owners and desirable to residential owners. It would also allow the market to determine viable commercial centers, not the vagaries of where LL puts a telehub.

In some RL situations there are minimum lot size limits. In parts of the USA west, for example, one cannot subdivide a lot smaller than 35 acres as that much groundwater is needed to support a residence.

Couldn't this be done with sim level zoning and covenants? I'm thinking of some of Anshe's regulations or those in Neualtenburg.

There is a proposal in the Feature Suggestions group that talks about sim-wide covenants. If we're going to do zoning in any way, shape, or form, it should be a cooperative venture done by everyone in the sim.

Check out this topic:

/13/c5/74224/1.html

If we implement a sim-wide zoning agreement, then minimum (or maximum) plot size could be one of the things built in to the agreement.

I'll check it out, thanks.

But new sims come in owned by one person: the winner of the auction. So I guess it comes out to the same thing ... I'm just saying -- declare it commercial or residential from the outset, so buyers can know what they are getting into. The CCR thing works for sold-out sims, but when should the covenants be set? When the first couple of land owners get together and make the rules for all the subsequent purchasers to live by? And what constitutes a quorum?

The need to understand and develop legal structures for planned developments is one I've just begun to think about, and deserves further study. I hope to learn much more from all of you.

Here's a hypothesis ... those with more experience with groups please share some knowledge. Its not actually a restrictive covenant running with what RL would call a "fee simple" ownership, but more of a condominium or coop structure that may accomplish much the same thing without a change in game code. Waiting for game code change can be a long, frustrating process.

I presently live in a pleasant private sim (Golgotha) which has commercial, residential and gaming space around a central gazebo at the TP point. The spaces are rented, and its rather popular, so its owner gets traffic bonus and rental income.

What interested me is that the land is owned by a Group, to which I was automatically added when I rented my little bachelor's cottage. There are about 50 members, so I'm guessing that it is formed of renters of residences and the retail stalls around the sim. With that membership I get automatic disclosure of some of the revenues of the Group and its dividend payments. If I understand the data I see (without an explanation), its a pleasant dividend of about 25% of my rent. It seems to come mostly from traffic bonuses from the Linden-paying dance pad / Slingo parlor on the sim.

I'm unclear about how a sim owned by a Group can be modified, if at all. Perhaps someone can explain.

But lets say the sim is just the way its creator likes it and has a good balance of livability and fun and esthetics. Does transferring it to the Group (residents' association) provide some protection for the members against changes to the sim other than by the Group Officers?

I realize that a private sim, developed, is a major investment. But let's say, US$1200 to buy the sim, plus sweat equity or the fee of a hired developer, and call it in the order of US$2000. If that "development" were then offered in participation shares to 20 participants, US$100 (L$25k - $L30k) might be an attractive entry point for a planned community. The monthly $200 or so "tax" due to LL could be distributed to each of the Group members as rental fee. Part of that tax could be offset by having some level of entertainment or gaming draw on the property to earn "tourist" income and traffic bonuses.

The Group membership would include the right to live in or rent one of the residences, perhaps at a discounted rate. Members would have the chance to elect Group officers, but distributing the shares widely enough would make "power plays" by hostile takeover challenging.

The offering transaction might be done on trust, with the developer setting Group memberships high, then transferring the land into the Group after the subscription goal was met. Alternatively, a trusted third party could act as escrow agent to control the Group, hold title to the land (as trustee) and receive the subscriptions (through Group membership charges of 25,000 Lindens or so) until the goal was met, then transferring control of the land to the Group. This actual "closing" would follow a period of advertising, solicitation of interest, land tours by prospects and all the usual things that go into marketing a new condo or coop development.

If the subscription goal were not met, the money could be refunded and the land returned to the developer, who would bear the risk that it wouldn't be sufficiently subscribed. This risk would help motivate the developer to do a good job with design, market research and marketing.

Now, how about your thoughts on this approach:

What are the pros and cons of such a structure?
How could it be improved?
What variations might be possible to meet different needs and opportunities?

Frank

The following is a modification of a proposal I made somewhere else.

1. Reduce everybody's tier charge by L$2.00 per month for every sim in which property is owned.

2. Impose a surcharge of L$2.00 per month for every sim in which you own property.

This policy will not change the tier costs for anybody whose holdings consist of plots no smaller than 512sqm.

If you're in a high tier, the tier cost of 16sqm is about 7 linden cents. If you have 100 of these things, in 100 different sims, the portion of your tier attributable to these small plots would go from about L$7/month to L$200/month.

The Lindens, who would have to implement these changes, have access to the data on land holdings, and could use these data to fine-tune the actual tier charges so it would affect ordinary land holders as little as possible while making extortion an unattractive career.