Process of sub-dividing a land in East Palo Alto

[Namit Raisurana]

Hello All,
I recently purchased a property in East Palo Alto, CA. The property is 100ft wide and 110 ft long (11k sqft). On the right side of the land there is a 2 storey house with 3000 sqft living area in it. Afer leaving the clearance from the house, I am left with 47ft wide land, length is still 110 ft long and thus about 5,170 sqft of vacant land (47*110). 

I am interested in subdividing this vacant part of the land, so that I could either sell it as is or build on it and then sell it off. The key concern is the width needs to be minimum 50ft, but mine is 47 ft and thus I will need to request for a variance. I have had conversations with the city planner and he hinted that if I am ready to designate it as BMR (below market rate) for folks who earn 80-90% of the median income of the city for folks like policy officers or teachers, I might have a chance at getting this approved. 

I have started reaching out to land surveyors to help me put together a topography survey and then have a tentative map or preliminary map from an architect and then take it to the city. I am looking for guidance on how to go about this process and any gotchas that I got to keep in mind.

Will appreciate any advise

Thanks