Michigan Loosened Its Land-Split Rules. In Lachine, the Deed and the Township Still Set the Count.

"The grantor grants to the grantee the right to make [insert "zero", a number, or "all"] division(s) under section 108 of the land division act."

That sentence comes from Michigan law, and it has to appear on every deed for unplatted land sold in the state. If you're buying 20, 40 or 80 acres around Lachine and plan to split off a lot later for a cabin, a family member or a future sale, the word that fills that blank decides whether you can. Too often nobody looks at it until the buyer is already the owner.

Here's why it matters more now. Michigan amended its Land Division Act in late 2025, and the headlines described it as a big expansion of how many parcels a landowner can create. That's accurate at the state level. In Long Rapids Township, though, the state formula usually isn't the limit that stops a non-farm lot split. The deed and the township's own zoning are. The 2025 amendment changed neither of them.

The sentence that decides whether you bought any splits

Under Michigan's Land Division Act, split rights are tracked by "parent parcel," a benchmark set by the version of the law that took effect March 31, 1997. Every parent parcel gets a fixed number of divisions. Each time a piece is split off, the remaining count drops.

When a seller sells part of a parent parcel, the rights don't automatically follow the land. Under Section 109 of the Land Division Act, the deed has to say how many division rights pass to the buyer: zero, a specific number, or all. If the deed has no statement in the required form, the rights stay with whatever land the seller keeps. Rights can only move from a parent parcel to a parcel created from it, and the seller has to notify the township assessor within 45 days on a state form. The form asks directly whether unallocated divisions were transferred and how many.

For a buyer, this means two parcels can look identical on the ground and have very different split potential on paper. One 40-acre piece might come with all remaining rights. Another 40 acres just down the road might come with zero, because the seller kept them with a farmhouse parcel or another piece of land.

Buying a parcel that was itself split off after 1997 adds a second wrinkle. A parcel created by a division doesn't become a new parent parcel. It can be divided again only after at least 10 years have passed since it was recorded, and then only under a smaller formula: two parcels for the first 10 acres plus one for each whole 10 acres after that, capped at seven, or ten if one resulting parcel keeps at least 60% of the area. The recording date on that parcel's history matters as much as its acreage.

What the 2025 amendment actually changed

The amendment is Public Act 58 of 2025. It started as Senate Bill 23, was signed December 23, 2025, and took effect March 24, 2026. It makes two changes. On March 24, 2027, the first 10 acres of a parent parcel can be divided into as many as 10 parcels instead of four. And starting this past March, a township with authority to approve divisions can adopt an ordinance allowing more parcels than the state formula does. Supporters framed it as a housing-supply measure.

Here's how the state ceiling works out for a few common acreage sizes. The math applies Section 108's formula: the first-10-acre number, plus one parcel for each whole 10 acres beyond that, up to 11 extra.

Parent parcels of 20 acres or more can get two more parcels if new roads mean no new driveways onto an existing public road, or if one resulting parcel keeps at least 60% of the original acreage. A resulting parcel of 40 acres or more with access doesn't count against the limit at all.

These numbers are maximums under state law. They count only the rights still attached to the parent parcel, and they don't override local zoning.

Long Rapids sets a lower limit for non-farm lots

The Long Rapids Township zoning ordinance posted on the township's ordinances page carries the file name "amended-3-14-19." In the Agricultural District, it allows a single-family home not tied to a farm on at least 1 acre, with no more than one dwelling on each 1-acre parcel. It also says the owner of a tract in that district "may not partition more than 3 parcels not less than 1 acre for nonfarm uses within a 10 year period."

Compare that to the table. Under the township rule, a 40-acre parent parcel that will soon have a state ceiling of 13 parcels can still produce only three non-farm lots in any 10-year period. Next March's change raises a ceiling that most Lachine-area home-lot plans weren't hitting anyway.

The state law expects this. Section 109(6) says approving a division "is not a determination that the resulting parcels comply with other ordinances or regulations." In its March 24, 2026 explainer on PA 58, MSU Extension says "the zoning ordinance will limit where additional parcels (additional density) will be permitted and where they will not." Long Rapids' 1-acre minimum is the kind of small lot size where MSU says added density is more likely to show up. The three-per-decade cap is a separate limit that sits on top of it.

The same ordinance tells non-farm residents in the Agricultural District that they "accept the sights, sounds and odors normally associated with farming operations," and that those aren't a nuisance when they come from generally accepted agricultural practices. State law puts a matching right-to-farm statement on every deed for unplatted land executed after March 31, 1997. If you're splitting off a lot for a relative, they'll be signing that too.

One caveat applies to everything in this section. The posted ordinance carries a 2019 label. I found nothing in the township board minutes from 2024 through July 2026 that changes the three-parcel rule. The board did adopt a blight ordinance in June 2024, and the online records don't make clear whether that was a change to the zoning text. MSU says local governments need to fix land-division ordinance provisions that conflict with the new state formula by March 24, 2027, which leaves room for local changes over the next several months. The township board's remaining 2026 meetings are October 8, November 12 and December 10, at 7 p.m. at the Emergency Facility, and the township notes that dates and times can change.

How a split actually gets approved

If the deed gives you rights and the zoning allows the lot, the paperwork goes through the Long Rapids land division packet. Here's the order it follows:

1. File with the land division desk. Applications go to the Assessing Department's Land Division desk in Rogers City.
2. Get the zoning sign-off. The packet includes a zoning page where the township zoning official fills in the minimum width, area and frontage. The packet names Todd Precord as the Long Rapids zoning official.
3. Assemble the history. The packet asks for a county tax certificate, a survey or drawing, legal descriptions, the deed for the parent parcel, and every deed from previous owners from March 31, 1997 to the present. If your parcel was created by a split after that date, the packet also asks for the deeds of all child-parcel owners. Under state law, the certificate has to show that the last five years of property taxes and special assessments are paid, as the Long Rapids land division packet specifies. The alternative is that the township assessor has apportioned any unpaid amounts across the new parcels.
4. Check the shape. Resulting parcels under 10 acres can be no more than four times as deep as they are wide. A narrow strip off the back of a long field may not pass.
5. Pay and wait. The fee is $150 for the first division and $50 for each one after that, plus a $50 fee for an incomplete application. The packet lists 45 calendar days for processing.

MSU raises two practical concerns that matter on rural land. As lots get smaller, it's less likely each one can support its own well and septic system, and local health department sanitary codes generally control where those go. Several new lots sharing one private driveway can also become a maintenance problem without a long-term road maintenance agreement. A split that clears the assessor's desk still needs soil that works and a way in.

A few straight answers

Does the three-parcel rule cover a house for someone working the farm? The rule is written for partitions "for nonfarm uses." The same section separately allows one or two dwellings tied to a farm enterprise on at least 1 acre. Whether a specific plan counts as farm use is a question for the zoning official.

What if the land is across the line in Green Township? Green's land division packet lists the same Rogers City land division desk and the same fee schedule, and names Larry Sumerix as zoning official. The link to Green's current zoning ordinance wasn't working when I checked, so its district minimums need to be confirmed with the township directly.

Can the purchase agreement address division rights? The division-rights sentence lands on the deed, so how many rights transfer is set before closing. How you handle that in your offer is a question for your attorney and title company. None of this is legal advice.

If you're looking at acreage around Lachine and splitting is part of the plan, I'm glad to pull the parcel's split history, ask the seller what the deed will convey, and check with the township before you write an offer. Reach out to Eric Arnoldi and Let's Connect.