To some, they may look like the borders of a gerrymandered congressional district. Others may see the hints of a Rorschach inkblot test.
It’s a strange problem surfacing in Fairfax County, where developers have drawn up serpentine, illogically shaped lots to pack more land for housing into a single subdivision. The discovery of the strange property lines has prompted elected officials in Fairfax County to bring down the hammer — or, perhaps the ruler.
Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey worries the dubious lot designs often put septic drain fields too far away from a property, creating the risk of a broken septic system the homeowner is too far away from to know about.
“Somebody’s going to have a problem down the road,” Frey said.
County staff also say the trend raises issues of yard maintenance, zoning enforcement and future development.
Officials, who recently examined 625 lots in 89 subdivisions, want to establish new guidelines for drawing up lots to keep them to more ordered perimeters. The Board of Supervisors on Monday set a Dec. 4 public hearing for the changes.
Examples of the irregularities, provided by the county, show comically interlocked branches shooting off from main properties, running in slivers along the length of other parcels and eventually connecting to small sections many lots over.
Frey said the motion would not apply retroactively to lots already created, only to new applications before the county.
