Family owns 12 acres

[Jerod Ellis]

My family owns 12 acres of land in Camden North Carolina.

After knocking the trees down, what should be the next step to creating passive income for the family ?

As a family should we develop an LLC ?

Also:

I was thinking a nice 1,500-2,000 Sqft home should only take up about .5 an acre.

So we should develop at LEAST 24 single family homes on this land.

I’d love to hear any advice or education on this great opportunity that I know my family has slept on for years

[Brent Paul]

You will need to see what your local laws and regulations say about that.  Every city and state is completely different.  For example in a city near me the house must be on a minimum of 1 acre.  The land will also have to be rezoned if it isn't zoned residential and the city will have to approve.  Each lot would have to be split into it's own parcel. Which means you will have to draw up plans and submit for them to approve.  I know just from getting a garage built it was a huge pain and personally I will never do it again.  
The garage we built took 6 months and many city meetings, as well as revisions to get right before they even approved it.

Some other things to consider.  What will a house cost to build?  How much will it rent for?

Keep in mind for new builds you will have to pay for electric, water, and sewer hook up which is not cheap.  It's 9k near me just to get water hooked up.  This process takes time.  Don't think it will be all done in a month.