Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Wakefield Township, Michigan

Wakefield Township’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Wakefield township's limits under the Wakefield Township Zoning Ordinance (the township's own zoning ordinance, which it administers through its planning commission and zoning board of appeals).

  • The township copy opened lists no effective or adoption date; the page shows a 06/26/2020 date-modified stamp on the zoning ordinance, which is not an effective date.
  • The copy captured did not restate the 'unincorporated portions' scope sentence in a form I could confirm from the township site; the City of Wakefield is a separate municipality and is not covered by this claim.

  “this ordinance shall be known and cited as the wakefield township zoning ordinance.”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning districts and zoning maps for land inside Wakefield township

  • Table of contents lists a residential/restricted commercial district (Article IV), a natural resource district (Article V), and an industrial and commercial district (Article VI); the zoning map set is a series of township-range PDFs (T47N-R44W, T47N-R45W, T48N-R44W, T48N-R45W, T49N-R45W, T50N-R45W).

  “zoning maps t47n-r44w t47n-r45w t48n-r44w t48n-r45w t49n-r45w t50n-r45w”

• Minimum dwelling sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Residential homes in the natural resource district (Article V) inside Wakefield township; a hunting camp is a separate, smaller use

  • Hunting camp: occupied fewer than 90 days per year, minimum 400 square feet, recreational purposes only.

  minimum finished living space (residential home): >= 900 sq ft (natural resource district; hunting camp minimum is 400 sq ft)

  “minimum finished living space: residential home shall have a minimum (900) square feet for the total of all floors.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Single-family homes in the residential/restricted commercial district (Article IV) inside Wakefield township

    “minimum finished living space area per family shall not be less than 900 square feet of floor area for the total of all floors.”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Residential/restricted commercial district (Article IV, Section 4.5) inside Wakefield township

  • Lot must be approved by the local health department for construction of a septic system.
  • Minimum lot width 100 feet.

  minimum lot area: >= 15000 sq ft (lot must be approved by the local health department for construction of a septic system) · minimum lot width: >= 100 ft

  “minimum lot area: 15,000 square feet, provided the lot is approved by the local health department for construction of a septic system.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Natural resource district (Article V, Section 5.5) inside Wakefield township, the rural district

    “minimum lot width: two hundred (200) feet.”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Natural resource district (Article V, Section 5.5) inside Wakefield township

  • Water's-edge setback: 100 feet from a body of water, river, stream or creek, measured from ordinary high water mark (USGS topographic map basis).

  front yard setback: >= 50 ft · side yard setback: >= 20 ft (interior and corner lots) · rear yard setback: >= 25 ft · water's edge setback: >= 100 ft (measured from ordinary high water mark)

  “water’s edge: all structures shall be located a minimum of one hundred 14 (100) feet from a body of water, river, stream or creek, as identified on a united states geological survey (u.s.g.s.) topographic map, measured from the ordinary high water mark.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Residential/restricted commercial district (Article IV, Section 4.5) inside Wakefield township

    “rear yard: twenty-five (25) feet from the rear lot line. • water’s edge: all structures shall be located a minimum of seventy-five 75 feet from a body of water, river, stream or creek, as identified on a united states geological survey (u.s.g.s.) topographic map, measured from the ordinary high water mark..”

• Lot coverageDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Natural resource district (Article V, Section 5.5) inside Wakefield township

  • Applies to all buildings, including accessory buildings.

  maximum lot coverage: <= 50 percent of total lot area

  “maximum lot coverage: all buildings, including accessory buildings, shall not cover more than fifty (50) percent of the total lot area.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Residential/restricted commercial district (Article IV, Section 4.5) inside Wakefield township

    “maximum lot coverage: all buildings, including accessory buildings, shall not cover more than fifty (50) percent of the total lot area.”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Residential/restricted commercial district (Article IV, Section 4.5) inside Wakefield township

  • Accessory buildings may be up to 50 feet but may not be used for human occupancy.
  • The source text contains a page-number artifact ('11') after the 35-foot figure; the 35-foot value is taken from the sentence.

  maximum building height: <= 35 ft (accessory buildings up to 50 ft, not for human occupancy) · maximum stories: <= 2 stories

  “maximum building height: two (2) stories, but not to exceed thirty-five (35) 11 feet. accessory buildings shall not exceed a height of fifty (50) feet and shall not be used for human occupancy.”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Manufactured (mobile) homes used as dwellings inside Wakefield township

  • Must be connected to required utilities.
  • Must meet the one-family dwelling standards, including the zone's minimum square footage.

  “designated to be used as a dwelling, with or without permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities”

• Off-grid sanitationLimited

  Dwellings inside Wakefield township not connected to public sewer

  • Private sanitation is allowed only if it is approved by the local health department, per the one-family dwelling definition.

  “the dwelling is connected to a public sewer and water supply or to such private facilities approved by the local health department.”

• Mandatory utility hookupConditional

  A one-family dwelling inside Wakefield township, for purposes of the zoning dwelling definition

  • The zoning definition requires connection to a public sewer and water supply, or to private facilities approved by the local health department; it does not by itself state a distance-based mandatory-connection rule.
  • The township home page names a Section 32 Sewer Authority that is hiring an administrator, which indicates a sewer system operates in the township; the sewer ordinance (Ordinance 2023-1) and Section 32 connection policy PDFs returned no readable text in this pass.

  “the dwelling is connected to a public sewer and water supply or to such private facilities approved by the local health department.”

• Permit feesPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning applications in Wakefield township: rezoning, appeals, variances, site plan review and conditional use permits. Building-permit fees are not covered by this claim.

  • Each listed application type is $250.00 in the schedule of Article XIV.
  • The fee schedule may be amended by resolution of the township board; the 2020 ordinance schedule may have been replaced by a later resolution not reviewed here.

  zoning application fee (rezoning, conditional use, variance, appeal, site plan review): 250 USD (per application; schedule may be amended by township board resolution)

  “rezoning request $250.00 • conditional use permit $250.00 • variance request $250.00 • appeals $250.00 • site plan review/development plan $250.00”

Rules another office applies inside Wakefield Township

Wakefield Township 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

  Dwellings inside Wakefield township, which must meet the Michigan state construction code under the township zoning definition

  • Applies through the state construction code; the township's zoning ordinance refers to it for one-family dwelling construction, and does not adopt a separate township building code in the text opened.

  “complies in all respects with the michigan state construction code commission under the provisions of 1972 pa 230, as amended”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Wakefield Township or Gogebic County directly.

• Building permit — New dwelling construction inside Wakefield township
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder construction of a dwelling inside Wakefield township
• Inspections — Building inspections for new dwellings inside Wakefield township
• Certificate of occupancy — Occupancy certificates for new dwellings inside Wakefield township
• Living in an RV — Living in a recreational vehicle on land inside Wakefield township

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.