You'll need every homeowner on the street to sign on and probably agree to some sort of deed amendment so that if someone refuses to pay their share, you can file a lien. 

Michigan passed the Headlee Amendment (http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(k5m2va1uyfgwtbyjf4nqb1bx))/mileg.aspx?

If you own both units, you could amend the bylaws to suit your needs.  

Our cash reserves can cover the extra expenses of putting in power and water lines(I own an excavator) and crushed concrete for the driveway amendment.

If this lawn thing is still that important to you, then give a written amendment to the lease telling the tenant that you will be responsible for the water bill if the tenant keeps the lawn watered. 

If your 12 lots were legal lots of record prior to the Zone Change and General Plan Amendment the City HAS to let you build on them or can be subjected to a lawsuit under the takings rule.

A nonconforming use is a use of land, buildings, or structures that was lawfully established prior to the effective date of this ordinance, or any amendment thereto, but which does not conform to the regulations for the zoning classification in which it is located.Nonconforming uses may be continued subject to the following limitations:a) No nonconforming use shall be extended, expanded, enlarged, or moved to occupy a different or greater area of land, buildings or structures than was occupied by such use at the time it became nonconforming; provided, however, a nonconforming use may be extended throughout any parts of a building which were specifically designed and arranged for such use at the time it became nonconforming.b) No building or structure devoted to a nonconforming use shall be enlarged, extended, recon­structed, moved, or structurally altered unless such building or structure is thereafter devoted to a conforming use; provided, however, such building or structure may be enlarged or extended upon prior authorization from the Board of Adjustment, which authorization shall not be granted unless the Board of Adjustment makes each of the following findings of fact:1) The proposed enlargement or extension shall be de minimis in relation to the existing building or structure.2) The proposed enlargement or extension shall not increase the intensity of the nonconforming use, which is to say, it will not result in an increase in dwelling units for a residential use nor in gross floor area for a nonresidential use.3) The proposed enlargement or extension is designed so that it will not render the use of the property any less compatible than it is in its existing circumstances.4) The authorization of such proposed enlargement or extension is not otherwise contrary to the public health, safety or welfare.c) A nonconforming use of a structure may not be changed to another nonconforming use unless such change is authorized by the Board of Adjustment.

I hired a surveyor to do what is called a Zone Lot Amendment in Denver, CO.

This is a condition of the contract and is put into the offer when we make it, usually based on communication with the listing agent.This should be in your contract or in an amendment to the contract. 

Can I still amend the lease at this point?