Division of land is regulated separately from zoning, through platting and land division statutes.
Stages. Pre-application, preliminary plat, construction plans and improvements, and final plat. Preliminary approval typically confers rights for a defined period, and final approval is largely ministerial if the conditions are met.
Standards. Lot dimensions, street layout and standards, blocks, utility easements, drainage, open space, and connectivity to adjoining parcels.
Improvements. Streets, water, sewer, drainage and sidewalks constructed by the developer to municipal standards, inspected, and either accepted for public maintenance or retained privately with an association responsible.
Financial assurance for uncompleted improvements, released on acceptance, with a maintenance bond for a period afterwards.
Dedications. Rights-of-way, easements and, where authorised, park land or a fee in lieu, subject to nexus and proportionality limits.
Minor divisions. Most states provide a simplified process for splitting a small number of parcels without a full plat, with limits on frequency and on creating new streets.
Vacation. Undoing a recorded plat or a dedicated right-of-way requires a statutory procedure with notice to affected owners.
Consequences of non-compliance. Conveyance of an unlawfully divided parcel may be unenforceable and unrecordable, and lenders will not finance it.