Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Farley, Iowa

Farley’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Construction, alteration, or moving of buildings and structures inside Farley city limits

  • Quoted section is Section 7(2) of the zoning ordinance; it governs zoning-permit issuance by the administrative official.
  • Construction may begin once the permit is issued.

  “building permits required. any building or other structure may be erected, moved, added to, or altered in such a way as to change its exterior dimensions or any garage spaces shall be given a building permit by the administrative official.”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Farley city limits, under the City of Farley's own zoning ordinance (Ord. No. 184) and its zoning map

  • The ordinance text on the city's document host is marked as amended through February 3, 2003; later amendments were not located or verified.
  • The ordinance text does not itself name a county; it is attributed to the city from the city's own document host (farleyiowa.socs.net).
  • The city's zoning-code web page (farleyiowa.hosted.civiclive.com) returned HTTP 403 and could not be opened.

  ordinance number: 184

  “city of farley, iowa zoning ordinance originally adopted november 9, 1970 (ord. no. 184) text amended through february 3, 2003”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning districts inside Farley city limits

  • Table of contents lists A-1 agricultural, R-1 suburban residential, R-2 general residential, R-3 planned residential, C-1, C-2, C-3 commercial, and I-1 planned industrial districts.
  • Text is as amended through February 3, 2003.

  “district regulations shall be as set forth in the schedule of district regulations, hereby adopted by reference and declared to be a part of this ordinance”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Single-family dwellings in the R-1 suburban residential district inside Farley city limits

  • Lot-size values are read from the R-1 schedule table as printed; the text layout does not show row labels for every cell.
  • Two lot sizes apply, depending on whether the dwelling is provided with public or community sewer; the no-sewer row states all other dwellings are not allowed without sewer connection.
  • Two-family and multi-family lot standards in the same table are not included in this claim.

  minimum lot area, dwelling provided with public or community sewer: >= 8000 sq ft · minimum lot width, dwelling provided with public or community sewer: >= 66 ft · minimum lot depth, dwelling provided with public or community sewer: >= 122 ft · minimum lot area, dwelling not provided with public or community sewer: >= 15000 sq ft · minimum lot width, dwelling not provided with public or community sewer: >= 85 ft · minimum lot depth, dwelling not provided with public or community sewer: >= 136 ft

  “dwellings not provided with public or community sewer single-family area 15,000 sq. ft. width 85 ft. depth 136 ft. all other dwellings not allowed without sewer connection. dwellings provided with public or community service single-family area width depth 8,000 sq. ft. 66 ft. 122 ft.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Farms and single-family homes in the A-1 agricultural district inside Farley city limits

    “minimum lot area, width, depth minimum yard requirements maximum height for all principle permitted for all principle permitted 2 ½ stories or 35 feet uses: uses: area: 10 acres width: 300 feet front: 80 feet rear: 50 feet side: 50 feet”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Principal uses in the A-1 agricultural district inside Farley city limits

  • Values are read from the A-1 schedule table as printed (page 10); the table lists the same yard values for all principal permitted uses.

  minimum front yard: >= 80 ft · minimum rear yard: >= 50 ft · minimum side yard: >= 50 ft

  “uses: uses: area: 10 acres width: 300 feet front: 80 feet rear: 50 feet side: 50 feet”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Dwellings in the R-1 suburban residential district inside Farley city limits

    “minimum required front, side and rear yards dwellings maximum height 35 feet or 2 ½ stories front rear side street side for corner lot 22 feet 15 feet 7 feet 17 feet”

• Building heightSpecified

  Principal uses in the A-1 agricultural district inside Farley city limits

  • Height limit as printed in the A-1 schedule table (page 10).

  maximum height: 2 ½ stories or 35 feet

  “2 ½ stories or 35 feet uses: uses: area: 10 acres width: 300 feet”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Dwellings in the R-1 suburban residential district inside Farley city limits

    “minimum required front, side and rear yards dwellings maximum height 35 feet or 2 ½ stories”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Mobile home parks only, as a principal use in the R-3 planned residential district (appended by approval) inside Farley city limits

  • Permitted only where the R-3 district is applied to a tract and the approval procedure in Section 5 is met.
  • General placement of a single manufactured home on a lot is not addressed in the text read; Section 6, item 14 (mobile homes) was not opened.

  “mobile home parks meeting the requirements of this section and of chapter 135d of the code of iowa, 1966 as amended.”

• Mandatory utility hookupSewer (with conditions)

  New dwellings inside Farley city limits, as to sewer

  • Quoted rule sits in the R-1 district lot table; the text does not state a distance-to-sewer rule.
  • No water-connection requirement was found in the zoning ordinance text reviewed.

  “all other dwellings not allowed without sewer connection.”

• Permit processPartial

  Building permit applications inside Farley city limits

  • Only the zoning-ordinance application requirement was read; fees, forms, and any building-code inspection steps were not located.

  “all applications for building permits shall be accompanied by plans in duplicate drawn to scale, showing the actual dimensions and shape of the lot to be built upon”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Farley or Dubuque County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder construction inside Farley city limits
• Building code adopted — Building code adoption inside Farley city limits
• Inspections — Building inspections inside Farley city limits
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificates of occupancy inside Farley city limits
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling floor area inside Farley city 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.