Ever heard of a "Letter stating Vested Concurrency?" (Palm Beach County, FLORIDA)

[Jeff Kushner]

QUESTION: Has anyone ever heard of a "Letter stating Vested Concurrency" as it relates to a county Planning, Zoning, & Building Department?

SITUATION: I am in negotiation with the seller of a vacant lot of land. The lot was subdivided at some point from an adjacent piece of property. The lot I am interested in is "landlocked" and has no proper 'frontage' to a county maintained road/ingress/egress.

The Warranty Deed on file with the county does indicate an easement of 15' width to/from the county road, but the county requires a 20' width easement to be considered legal access, therefore the person I spoke with at the county zoning division/land development division believed that the lot was an 'illegal subdivision' and therefore was un-permittable for future build.

The owner, who is a zoning consultant by profession, seemed surprised that I was told this by the county zoning person and mentioned via the listing agent that he had a letter stating "Vested Concurrency" such that the property is permitable/build-able, but the the only copy of this letter is on file with the listing agent at his office and the listing agent is conveniently out of town until Thursday...

There is more back story, but the above is most relevant. I am not yet in contract on this property and no money has been exchanged, but I am seeing serious red flags…I am considering adding a contract contingency of results of County Review for Buildable Lot to ensure I can build on the land if do go to contract.  I've just never heard of "Vested Concurrency" and the google results to the County Ordinances pages is like reading a foreign language...

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to chime in… 

@Wayne Brooks

@Claire Etienne

@Joe Fairless