Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Georgetown, Delaware

Town of Georgetown’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land and buildings inside Georgetown town's corporate limits, administered under the Georgetown Zoning Ordinance of 1990 (Chapter 230 of the Town Code)

  • Ordinance applies to the use of all land and any building in any district of the Town, subject to the exceptions quoted in the parameters/evidence.
  • Excepted: installation, construction or erection of Georgetown municipal governmental buildings, including municipal offices, municipally operated water towers, storage tanks, reservoirs, pumping stations, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, lift stations and sewage pumping stations.
  • The zoning map is on file in the town office and is not published on eCode360 (editor's note to § 230-1).

  “this chapter shall be known as the "georgetown zoning ordinance of 1990" and the zoning map hereto attached [1] shall be known as the "georgetown zoning map."”

• Zoning districtsPartial

  Zoning districts of Georgetown town under Chapter 230

  • Districts seen in the code text: UR1 Urban Residential, UR2 Medium Residential, UR3 Neighborhood Residential, MR1 Multifamily Residential.
  • The zoning map is on file in the town office and is not published on eCode360, so the district map is not fully published.

  “any use permitted in ur1 urban residential district or ur2 medium residential district or ur3 neighborhood residential district, provided that the lot measures at least 7,200 square feet.”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  MR1 Multifamily Residential District land inside Georgetown town (§ 230-46); not the single-family UR districts

  • Where a lot contains more than one detached residential structure, no more than 12 units may be constructed upon a site area of one acre.
  • A minimum of 100 feet of interior street frontage is required for each detached residential structure.
  • § 230-45(a): any use permitted in UR1, UR2 or UR3 is allowed in MR1 only where the lot measures at least 7,200 square feet.

  minimum lot area per unit: >= 4840 square feet (MR1 district; more than one detached residential structure on a lot caps density at 12 units per acre of site area)

  “there shall be a minimum lot area of 4,840 square feet per unit; provided, however, that if a lot contains more than one detached residential structure, no more than 12 units may be constructed upon a site area of one acre.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Townhouses in the MR1 Multifamily Residential District inside Georgetown town (§ 230-45(f))

    “townhouses, provided that there shall be a minimum site area of 4,840 square feet per dwelling unit, and no lot can be created with a lot area of less than 1,600 square feet.”

• Lot coverageDistrict specific (with conditions)

  MR1 Multifamily Residential District inside Georgetown town (§ 230-46)

  • The cap applies to total building area relative to lot area in MR1; the definition of total building area was not opened.

  maximum total building area as share of lot area: <= 65 percent

  “the total building area shall not exceed 65% of the lot area.”

• Off-grid sanitationProhibited

  Privately owned sewer transmission and/or treatment and disposal systems inside Georgetown town's corporate limits

  • The code text bans privately owned sewer transmission and/or treatment and disposal systems. Whether that reaches an individual on-site septic system is an inference from the wording; no septic-specific provision was located.
  • Off-grid sanitation outside the corporate limits is not covered by this claim.

  “no privately owned sewer transmission and/or treatment and disposal systems will be permitted within the corporate limits.”

• Mandatory utility hookupSewer (with conditions)

  Residential, commercial, industrial and institutional properties inside Georgetown town's corporate limits that discharge wastes

  • Also applies to properties to be annexed into the corporate limits.
  • Individual distance or sewer-main availability thresholds for a new home were not located in the captured text.
  • Separate sewer laterals are required for lots and buildings of separate ownership (§ 176-7).

  “all properties, residential, commercial, industrial and institutional, within the corporate limits of the town of georgetown discharging wastes must be connected to the municipal sanitary sewer system.”

Still unanswered

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

• Building permit — General building permits for new homes inside Georgetown town
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption inside Georgetown town
• Building code adopted — Building code adoption inside Georgetown town
• Inspections — Building inspections inside Georgetown town
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificates of occupancy for new homes inside Georgetown town

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 Georgetown 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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