Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Sahuarita, Arizona

Town of Sahuarita’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Sahuarita town limits: the Town of Sahuarita's own zoning code administers zoning districts, area requirements and use classes

  • The town's zoning code applies to the entire town except specific-planned areas that have their own zoning regulations (Rancho Sahuarita, Quail Creek, Madera Highlands, La Jolla Verde, Sahuarita Farms), where the specific plan governs and, where silent, the grandfathered 1994 zoning code applies.
  • Code text is published on eCode360 as Title 18 Zoning; the zoning code PDF on the town site is the planning-page version.

  “this zoning code applies to the entire town, with the exception of specific-planned areas with their own zoning regulations.”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Land inside Sahuarita town limits: minimum lot area is set by zoning district (main single-family district SR and agricultural/rural GR-1 district numbers NOT extracted)

  • Minimum lot area and lot width are required by the zoning code and vary by zone.
  • A lot held under one ownership on July 19, 1995 may not be reduced below the minimum lot area or lot width required by the code; exceptions apply for lots of record and an 80 percent rule for existing block frontages.
  • Numeric minimums for SR and GR-1 were not established within the research budget and are left for followup.

  “has not less than 80 percent of the minimum lot area and lot width required in the zone”

• Permit feesPublished (with conditions)

  Development and building permit fees charged by the Town of Sahuarita inside town limits

  • Building permit fees are a separate fee category (§3.10.080) and are computed from the International Code Council square-foot construction cost table, per the Chapter 3.10 text seen in search results; the table values and the §3.10.080 text were not opened.
  • Fees listed in Chapter 3.10 are exclusive of building permit fees and other charges, per the quoted sentence.

  “§ 3.10.080 building permit fees. a. building permit. the fee for issuance of a building permit shall be: 1. total valuation from $1.00 to $500.00: $23.50”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Sahuarita or Pima County directly.

• Building permit — New residential construction inside Sahuarita town limits
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for a homeowner building on their own land inside Sahuarita town limits
• Building code adopted — Inside Sahuarita town limits: which building code edition the town adopts under Title 15
• Inspections — Building inspections inside Sahuarita town limits
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new dwellings inside Sahuarita town limits

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.

Off-grid gear

Going off-grid in Town of Sahuarita means bringing your own water and power. The kit we’d start with:

• Water Crystal Quest Filter any source — well, rain, or creek — to drinking-clean.
• Power Bluetti Solar generators and home battery backup for living off the grid.
• Septic Soil percolation test kit Run your own perc test before paying an engineer — the first thing a septic office asks about.
• Water Well water test kit Bacteria, nitrates, hardness — know what the well on a parcel is really pumping.

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