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

Town of Greenwood’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent

  Land inside Greenwood town limits: the Town adopts and administers its own zoning ordinance (Article 4 districts, incl. R-1, R-2, R-3, DC, HC, M/LI, RPC, UD, OS)

  • Text reviewed is the 2021 A-1R zoning ordinance PDF. The town site also lists a consolidated A-1 (2024) zoning file, whose URL returned HTTP 404 and was not read.
  • A proposed Ordinance A-25 amending accessory-building rules was listed for a June 9, 2026 Planning Commission hearing; adoption was not verified.

  “conditional uses are allowed or denied by the town council after review and comment by the planning commission”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Land inside Greenwood town limits

  • Table of contents lists R-1 single-family, R-2 residential, R-3 garden apartment/townhouse, DC downtown commercial, HC highway commercial, M/LI manufacturing, RPC overlay, UD utility, and OS open space districts. No separate agricultural or rural-residential district appears in that list.
  • Map adopted as Section 1.2 / Section 4.2 of the 2021 ordinance; map image was not opened.

  “section 6.1 r-1 single-family residential district section 6.1.1 purposes”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Main single-family district R-1 (Section 6.1.5) inside Greenwood town limits

  • Only the R-1 district was extracted as the main single-family district; R-2 interior lots (8,000 sq ft) and corner lots (13,000 sq ft) are in Section 6.2.5 and were not added as separate claims.
  • No agricultural or rural-residential district exists in the 2021 ordinance, so none is listed.

  minimum lot area: >= 10000 square feet · minimum street frontage on at least one street: >= 80 feet

  “6.1.5. dimensional regulations. (1) minimum lot area. minimum lot area shall be 10,000 square feet.”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Main single-family district R-1 (Section 6.1.5) inside Greenwood town limits; principal buildings

  • Corner-lot rear yard may be reduced 20% in depth to allow for skewing of a dwelling on the lot (R-1 item 6).
  • Section 5.5.2 (building setback lines, averaging of existing buildings within 200 feet) can modify these setbacks; not reviewed in full.

  front yard setback: >= 30 feet · rear yard setback: >= 25 feet (corner lots may reduce rear depth by 20%) · side yard setback (each of two side yards): >= 12 feet

  “(7) side yard setbacks: there shall be two side yards on each lot, each of which shall be a minimum of 12 feet.”

• Lot coverageSpecified

  Main single-family district R-1 (Section 6.1.5) inside Greenwood town limits

  • Coverage is measured per the Town's definition of maximum lot coverage (cited in the excerpt).

  maximum lot coverage: <= 40 percent of lot

  “(2) maximum lot coverage shall be 40% (see definition of “maximum lot coverage”).”

• Building heightSpecified

  Main single-family district R-1 (Section 6.1.5) inside Greenwood town limits

  • Private garages may reach 20 feet if roof pitch is at least 8/12 (R-1 item 4).
  • Section 5.5.1 exempts spires, chimneys, flagpoles, town water tanks, antennas, solar collectors and similar structures from height limits.

  principal building height: <= 35 feet (or two and one-half stories, whichever is greater) · accessory building height (other than private garages): <= 15 feet

  “(4) height of principal buildings shall not exceed two & one-half stories or 35 feet, whichever is greater. accessory buildings, other than private garages, shall not exceed 15 feet in height.”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  New manufactured homes as a dwelling in the R-1 single-family district inside Greenwood town limits

  • R-1 permitted uses exclude manufactured homes; modular homes are permitted. Manufactured-home use in other districts (R-2, R-3, RPC, mobile-home-park-type uses) was not extracted.
  • Section 8.5 lets a lawfully existing manufactured home continue but it may not be modified, enlarged, or added to (the sentence beginning 'provided however' was not fully read).

  “(1) a single-family detached residential dwelling (including modular homes but excluding manufactured homes).”

• Mandatory utility hookupSewer (with conditions)

  Premises inside Greenwood town served by the Town sewer system; authority to require connection (state session law charter provision)

  • This is a grant of authority; the Town's distance or availability trigger for mandatory connection of a new home was not located.
  • If an owner does not connect after the Town orders it, the Town Council may connect the premises and collect the cost as town taxes are collected.
  • Water connection rule not found.

  “the town of greenwood shall have authority to require any premises to be connected to the sewer system.”

• Permit feesPublished

  Building permits and certificate-of-occupancy fees, Greenwood town

  • Schedule lists building permit tiers, certificate of occupancy, inspection fees, and other fees; per-tier dollar amounts were not extracted.
  • Document is labeled 'proposed december 10, 2025' in its text; confirm adopted version with Town Hall.

  “building permit: project under $ 1000 cost of project $1001-$5000 cost of project $5001-$20,000 cost of project $20,001-$50,000 cost of project $50,001-$100,000 new construction $100,001-$200,000 new construction $200,001+”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption inside Greenwood town limits
• Building code adopted — Building code adopted for construction inside Greenwood town limits
• Inspections — Building inspections for construction inside Greenwood town limits
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificates of occupancy for new homes inside Greenwood town limits
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling floor area inside Greenwood 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.