How to interpret covenant that restricts building on a lot smaller than 16,000 sqft

[Timothy Fortin]

Hey folks, I'm looking for some help interpreting this covenant that applies to a 10,000 sqft lot in Brunswick County NC. There is no HOA, the covenants were drafted and signed by the residents of the subdivision, so there's no single source of truth I can consult on what the intent of the covenant is.

This is the covenant word for word: 

"There shall be no dwelling placed on or permitted to remain on any lots or lots where the lot contains less than 16,000 square feet.  However, an exception to this square footage restriction shall be given to any lot of record existing prior to January 24, 1977, as long as the current building setbacks can be met on said lot. "

What's strange about this covenant, is ALL of the lots in that subdivision were originally smaller than 16,000 square feet, according to the plat map dated 1967, so the exception seemingly omits ALL lots. I'm trying to understand the intent of the exception to make sure this can't be interpreted some other way that could prevent me from building a single family home on this lot.


I've spoken to a RE attorney, who also sought council from a title insurance company, and both feel that if anyone tried to file a suit against me for building a home on this 10,000 sqft lot, they would likely not have a case, but the RE attorney feels there's still some small risk that the covenant had some intention, that's not clear from the wording, that a resident of the subdivision could try to enforce.

The RE attorney's best guess at what the intention of the covenant is, is it would prevent anyone that combined lots to then break them back down to smaller than 16,000 sqft.