Building permits, zoning and land rules in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Yes. In unincorporated St. Tammany Parish, a permit is required before regulated construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, movement, demolition, occupancy changes, or electrical, mechanical, plumbing, or gas work begins¹. Limited exemptions include a one-story detached accessory structure serving a one- or two-family dwelling when it is no larger than 200 square feet, and a fence no taller than 7 feet¹. St. Tammany Parish enforces the construction codes prescribed by Louisiana law through plan review, permits and inspections, and permitted work must remain accessible and exposed until approved^1,7. An owner-builder path is available for an owner's primary residence, but non-owner work requires a registered contractor and the required permits⁵.

The St. Tammany Parish Department of Permits and Inspections handles building permits, code enforcement and inspection questions⁸. Its office is at 21454 Koop Drive, Building B, Mandeville, LA 70471, and its listed phone number is 985-898-2574⁸. The published application workflow starts at MyPermitNow: select the customer portal, create an account and return to the portal after submitting the account form⁸. Current permit amounts were not confirmed, although the parish publishes fee information; ask the building office for the fee tied to the proposed work⁸. Inside Slidell and Abita Springs, municipal offices handle building permits^9,10. Municipal building approval does not replace the parish Environmental Services sewerage inspection process².

Yes. Parish zoning applies to unincorporated St. Tammany Parish; incorporated municipalities are outside the parish UDC¹. Slidell, Covington, Abita Springs, Madisonville and Folsom administer their own zoning^{11,12,13,14,15}. Parish Environmental Services administers the parish sewerage inspection program². For unincorporated land, ask Planning & Development at 985-898-2529 to identify the parcel’s base and overlay districts^1,16. Residential lot minimums are 7 acres in E, 5 acres in R-1, 3 acres in R-2 and 1 acre in L-1¹. R-1 requires 300 feet of lot width and setbacks of 50 feet at the front, 15 feet on each side and 25 feet at the rear; qualifying legal nonconforming lots may receive limited lot-area relief¹. Individual-sewer lots generally also need 12,000 square feet and 60 feet of width, with an exception for qualifying combined lots of record; this does not replace larger district minimums¹.

St. Tammany Parish Environmental Services administers on-site wastewater permits and inspections². Sewerage Inspection Permit applications go through MyGovernmentOnline, and the parish office lists a $100 payment amount for checks and money orders^2,8. A building must connect to community sewer when Environmental Services determines that sewer is available and suitable⁴. When the community-sewer requirement is waived, an individual system must receive specific approval from the state health officer or authorized representative before a certificate of occupancy or other final building-permit action⁴. Changes in occupancy, connection or electrical-service transfer trigger an on-site system inspection and inspection permit; permanent electrical service waits for that permit⁴. Only about 1.2% of parish soils are rated “not limited” for conventional drain fields; this does not make septic impossible, but supports getting a site evaluation before buying¹⁷.

We could not confirm a rule specifically allowing long-term RV occupancy, private-land camping or tiny-home occupancy in unincorporated St. Tammany Parish; ask Planning & Development about the proposed use¹⁶. Land and buildings must conform to the applicable parish zoning district, so ask Planning & Development whether the exact parcel and proposed use are allowed^1,16. We could not confirm a minimum dwelling size; ask Planning & Development for the parcel’s district standards¹⁶. An occupied RV or tiny home still needs an approved sewage-disposal method, and an individual on-site system requires approval rather than an improvised off-grid arrangement⁴. If community sewer and adequate public water are available, the parish can require plumbing fixtures to connect to both⁴.

1. Ask Planning & Development to confirm that the parcel is unincorporated, identify its zoning districts and verify the proposed residential use^1,3,16.
2. Ask Environmental Services whether community sewer is available and suitable; otherwise establish the approval path for an individual system^2,4.
3. Create a MyPermitNow account and submit the building-permit application before regulated work begins^1,8.
4. If acting as builder, complete the owner-builder affidavit and satisfy its primary-residence, contractor and permit conditions⁵.
5. Request each required inspection before covering the work and do not proceed past an inspection point without approval^1,7.
6. Before final building-permit action, secure health-officer or authorized-representative approval for an individual sewage system where community-sewer connection is waived; drainage-regulated development also needs an official survey and final drainage inspection^4,18. Keep the permit placard on site until the certificate of occupancy or substantial completion is issued¹.

Check zoning, sewer availability, septic feasibility, flood constraints and legal road access before the inspection period expires^19,20,21,22. Only about 1.2% of parish soils are rated “not limited” for conventional drain fields; a site evaluation is needed to establish wastewater feasibility¹⁷. If the land may be subdivided, note that new subdivisions with 15 or more lots smaller than 5 acres each require a central water system². Development in a regulatory floodway may need technical support showing no rise²¹. A new private well must be installed by a licensed contractor and registered with the state after completion⁶. The effective property-tax rate is about 0.7%, and the median annual bill is about $2,005¹⁷.