Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Millis, Massachusetts

Town of Millis’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Millis town limits, under the Millis Zoning By-Law

  • Copy located is the Nov. 4, 2013 version on the town's CivicPlus archive. Amendments after 2014 (MBTA Communities/3A and solar proposals seen in search results) were not verified, so the current consolidated bylaw is unconfirmed.

  “town of millis zoning by-law table 2. area regulations (see following page for notes.)”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Residential and business districts inside Millis town limits (2013 bylaw, Table 2)

  • Table 2 is dated (amended through June 14, 2010); the district names R-T, R-S, R-V, C-V are from that table and their full purposes were not checked.

  “(amended june 14, 2010) minimum required lots (1) district use area lot (2) frontage. lot depth yards (3-7) (sq. ft.) ft. (ft.) front (ft.) side (ft.) rear (ft.) r-t any permitted principal structure or use 60,000 200 300 40 40 40 r-s any permitted principal structure or use 25,000”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Lots with any permitted principal structure or use in district R-S inside Millis town (2013 bylaw, Table 2)

  • From the 2013 Table 2; Table 2 notes 3-7 apply and were not reproduced.
  • District R-S may not be the main single-family district; confirm against the current bylaw.

  minimum lot area: >= 25000 sq ft · minimum lot frontage: >= 125 ft

  “r-s any permitted principal structure or use 25,000 125 200 40 20 40”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — One-family dwelling lots in district R-V inside Millis town (2013 bylaw, Table 2)

    “r-v one-family dwelling 15,000 100 150 40 15 20”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Lots with any permitted principal structure or use in district R-S inside Millis town (2013 bylaw, Table 2)

  • Table 2 notes 3-7 apply and were not reproduced.
  • 2013 text; confirm against current bylaw.

  front yard depth: 40 ft · side yard width: 20 ft · rear yard depth: 40 ft

  “r-s any permitted principal structure or use 25,000 125 200 40 20 40”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — One-family dwelling lots in district R-V inside Millis town (2013 bylaw, Table 2)

    “r-v one-family dwelling 15,000 100 150 40 15 20”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Millis

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

• Building code adoptedAdopted (with conditions)

  New construction inside Millis town under the Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR

  • Tenth edition concurrency with the ninth edition ended June 30, 2025 per the same Mass.gov page; the tenth edition is the only building code in effect after that date.
  • Local building department administration of 780 CMR inside Millis was not verified.

  “the tenth edition building code became first effective on october 11, 2024 with a concurrency period, during which either the ninth or tenth edition building codes could be utilized. this concurrency period, which was thereafter extended, ends june 30, 2025, at which time the tenth edition will be the only building code in effect.”

Still unanswered

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

• Building permit — New home construction inside Millis town
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder construction inside Millis town
• Inspections — Inspections for new construction inside Millis town
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new dwellings inside Millis town
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size inside Millis 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.