Considering battery storage on your Zavala County land?

Draw the proposed lease area and the land you would keep

Ask for a plan that shows the whole tract, the proposed battery site and the remaining land. Include entrances, shared roads, electrical routes and any area the company wants temporarily during construction. The equipment fence may cover less land than the agreement would reserve.

Discuss how the proposed boundary affects the rest of your property. Can you still reach a field, home or barn? Would a cable route cross land you want to sell later? If the company needs an access strip, show it separately from the battery area and explain who can use it.

Zavala’s April 2026 packet defines divided parcels broadly and includes nonresidential uses. Its county-standard provisions address divisions for business, commercial and industrial development. Have the company and your adviser establish how the proposed arrangement fits those provisions before relying on a general statement that subdivision rules only concern houses.

You should not have to choose a legal classification yourself. Ask the company to give the reviewing office the actual proposal: whether it is a lease or sale, what area is being set apart and what happens to the remainder. Request the explanation of which process applies and keep it with the proposed agreement.

Reference: Zavala County: subdivision regulations and application packet, adopted April 1, 2026

Ask which office and which subdivision rules apply

Start with the actual location. A Zavala County mailing address does not establish whether the land is inside a municipality, outside it or in an area near a city where review responsibilities need checking. The county packet addresses municipal boundaries and written agreements about review in extraterritorial jurisdiction, often called ETJ.

The packet separates border-county rules, model subdivision rules and county-standard rules. They have different scopes. Its border-county section concerns qualifying residential divisions and includes its own exceptions; the county-standard section covers other qualifying subdivisions.

Do not treat an acreage threshold from one section as an exemption from every review. Ask the company to identify the applicable route, the provision it relies on and the facts that support an exception. A rule about one kind of subdivision does not by itself answer the question for a battery site.

The April packet includes statutory and local exceptions, with limits on where they apply. If the company says no plat is needed, ask for the basis and the responsible office’s position on the actual layout. This guide does not determine that every battery lease needs a plat, or that every lease is exempt.

Keep other project reviews on the list. An answer about land division does not resolve fire review, building work, floodplain or drainage requirements, road access or the proposed utility connection. Have the company explain the separate decisions it still needs.

Reference: Zavala County: subdivision regulations and application packet, adopted April 1, 2026

Use the application in the current packet

The county utility page links a subdivision packet with a signed adoption order and an effective date of April 1, 2026. That packet includes a plat application in Exhibit M. It also says earlier county subdivision and manufactured-home-community regulations are superseded.

A separate application linked beside that packet references regulations filed in October 2005. Do not assume two forms posted on the same page are interchangeable. Ask the office which form it currently accepts for the proposal, and ask the company to use that form with the applicable supporting documents.

Exhibit M in the April packet has separate document lists for different subdivision routes. Ask which list the company is following. The form’s questions cover municipal jurisdiction, public dedications, utility arrangements, other approvals, floodplain information, fees and property-tax status.

Get a complete copy before signing, including the plan and attachments. Compare the property description with your deed and with the land you intend to reserve. Ask who prepares surveys, engineering and tax documents, who pays for review and who corrects an incomplete submission.

A preliminary discussion can help clarify the process. Under the county-standard submission section, the packet offers a voluntary concept-plan meeting before a formal application. That meeting is not a required component of the plat application and does not itself approve a project.

Reference: Zavala County: subdivision regulations and application packet, adopted April 1, 2026 · Zavala County: separately posted plat application referencing 2005 regulations · Zavala County: utility department, rates, forms and subdivision links

Understand the difference between an application and a plat signature

Ask what document you are being asked to sign. An application, an authorization for an agent, an owner certification and a final plat can have different purposes. Read the completed document rather than signing a blank page because the company describes it as routine.

The April regulations allow an application signed by an agent when sufficient written evidence establishes the agency relationship and authority. They separately state that the record owner, rather than the owner’s agent, executes and acknowledges a plat. Have your adviser review what authority the company wants and how it would be limited.

Exhibit M asks for the relationship authorizing an applicant who differs from the owner or developer. Its certification states that the signer has read the active regulations, required documents are attached and required fees have been paid. Check what you would be certifying and whether the supporting work is actually complete.

Ask to see any proposed public dedication, easement or other restriction on the plan. Permission to apply for review should not be treated as your agreement to every road, utility strip or restriction the company later proposes. Decide how changes to boundaries and attachments require your further review.

Have the private land agreement explain who handles the paperwork, pays the costs and sends you copies. Also discuss what happens if the application is withdrawn, the site layout changes or a different company takes over. County paperwork and the company’s promises to you should be reviewed together.

Reference: Zavala County: subdivision regulations and application packet, adopted April 1, 2026

Distinguish a received application from an approved project

The county-standard submission section expressly says acceptance of a plat application for review does not constitute approval. If a company reports that it has “filed with the county,” ask what was filed, whether it was complete and what remains unresolved.

That section provides for notice of missing documents or information. It also describes review of the application, proposed plat and supporting materials, with an approval, conditional approval or disapproval recorded through the Commissioners Court process. Ask for the actual decision and any conditions when that is the applicable route.

For a progress report, request the application version, submitted plan, county correspondence and approval documents rather than a general assurance that permitting is underway. Check whether the approved boundary is the one in your agreement and whether conditions change access, drainage or the land needed.

Do not tie your land up indefinitely while those questions remain open. Discuss the investigation period, extension rights and payments, what evidence supports an extension and how you regain control of the land if the company cannot proceed. Those terms belong in the agreement you are considering.

A plat decision is one milestone. It does not show that a battery facility has every required project approval, financing or utility connection. Ask the company to explain the remaining steps before construction and who bears the cost if those steps fail.

Reference: Zavala County: subdivision regulations and application packet, adopted April 1, 2026

Keep utility service and battery connection separate

The county utility page lists water, sewer, garbage and some generic permit rates. Its linked “Utility Permit Requirements” file is a diagram for single mobile-home overhead electrical service, dated December 31, 2018. Neither source establishes a complete battery permitting fee or approval route.

Ask the company to identify the utility or network reviewing the proposed battery connection. What would the batteries charge from and export to? What studies, agreements or upgrades remain, and could those results change the site or cable route? Existing electricity on the tract does not answer those questions.

The current plat application asks about utilities and other approvals as part of the subdivision submission. Explain those arrangements accurately if that process applies, but keep the connection decision distinct from the land-division decision. Ask to see evidence for each claimed milestone.

Review drainage and emergency access for the actual site as well. Tell the company about low areas, water moving across the tract and roads or gates you need to retain. Have it establish the current requirements with the responsible offices; this guide has not determined the separate floodplain, fire or building rules for a particular battery layout.

Reference: Zavala County: utility department, rates, forms and subdivision links · Zavala County: linked single mobile-home overhead-service diagram · Zavala County: subdivision regulations and application packet, adopted April 1, 2026

Tell Sunland what you would consider for the property

Begin with your contact information, then the property’s location. Zavala County and Texas are selected on this page. You can change them, and acreage and parcel number are optional if you do not have those details ready.

Describe whether you would consider a lease, sale or use of part of the tract. Mention access, current uses you want to keep and any known flooding or drainage concerns. If you already have a proposal or have been asked to sign an application, tell us what has been requested.

Sunland may follow up to learn more about the land and your plans. Sending this form does not appoint an agent, submit county paperwork, grant entry or commit you to a lease or sale. You can start the conversation while the property and approval questions are still being worked out.