Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Bishop, Georgia

Town of Bishop’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Bishop town limits (Oconee County, GA), under the Town of Bishop's own zoning regulations

  • Evidence is the town home page link labelled 'zoning regulations'; the regulations text itself was not opened.
  • An Oconee County staff report in search results cites Section 1705 of the Town of Bishop, Georgia Zoning Regulations; that report was not opened and is not used as evidence.

  “subdivision regulations ---- zoning regulations ---- zoning map report abuse”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Land divisions inside Bishop town limits

  • Evidence is the town home page link labelled 'subdivision regulations'; the regulations text was not opened, so procedure and thresholds are unknown.

  “subdivision regulations ---- zoning regulations ---- zoning map report abuse”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Bishop

Town of Bishop does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Lots inside Bishop town limits that use an on-site sewage management system (Oconee County Board of Health septic-suitability minimum, applied countywide; not a Bishop town zoning minimum)

  • Applies only to lots using an on-site sewage management system; it is a septic-suitability minimum, not a town zoning district minimum.
  • Larger lots may be required for larger homes, swimming pools, tennis courts, outbuildings, or where trees would interfere with the system.
  • The county board of health may also require larger lots when slope is greater than 5%, percolation is slower than 45 minutes per inch, subsurface drainage is needed, or adverse topography exists.
  • Lots must be at least 100 feet wide with public water or 150 feet wide with non-public water within the system area.
  • Land in road rights-of-way, easements, unusable soils, water bodies and within 50 feet of a lake, river, stream or wetland is not counted.

  minimum lot size with public water: >= 30000 sq ft (must contain 25,500 sq ft usable soil area) · minimum lot size with non-public water: >= 51000 sq ft (must contain 25,500 sq ft usable soil area)

  “the minimum lot size as established herein shall be 30,000 square feet containing 25,500 square feet of usable soil area for an approved on-site sewage management system with public water and 51,000 square feet containing 25,500 square feet of usable soil area with non-public water.”

• Who permits septicCounty (with conditions)

  On-site sewage systems on land inside Bishop town limits; the Oconee County Board of Health rules apply countywide, including inside Bishop town (town not named in the ordinance)

  • The ordinance is an Oconee County Board of Health ordinance; it does not name Bishop town, so application inside the town is inferred from its countywide scope and not separately verified.
  • Rules are the Georgia DPH on-site sewage management system rules as adopted by the Oconee County Board of Health (adopted August 13, 2014, effective September 13, 2014, amended August 8, 2018, effective September 8, 2018).

  “an ordinance of the oconee county board of health to amend the rules and regulations for on-site sewage management systems, approved by the oconee county board of health on august 13, 2014 effective september 13, 2014”

Still unanswered

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

• Building permit — Building permit for new construction inside Bishop town
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for Bishop town permits
• Building code adopted — Building code adopted for construction inside Bishop town
• Inspections — Building inspections inside Bishop town
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes inside Bishop 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.