Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Village of Clifford, Michigan

Village of Clifford’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Clifford village limits: the village administers its own zoning ordinance (Ordinance No. 100) under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act.

  • The text reviewed is a 2007 ordinance copy hosted on a third-party site (energyzoning.org). The village ordinances page lists later amendments such as 100-01 (solar energy); their text was not reviewed.
  • Any use must conform to the ordinance (section 2.01); zoning administration is under section 3.01.

  “village ordinances zoning ordinance 100 solar energy zoning amend 100-01”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts inside Clifford village limits.

  • District map and boundaries are referenced in Article IV; only the table of contents and table were read.
  • Districts listed include AR (agricultural residential), SFR (single-family residential), RM, MHP, CBD, C and I.

  “zoning district ar sfr(6) rm mhp (5) cbd c i”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Agricultural Residential (AR) district inside Clifford village: minimum lot area per dwelling unit.

  • Column alignment read from OCR text: AR = 43,560 sq ft (one acre); the planning commission may reduce the AR minimum lot area for cluster housing.
  • Footnote (3) (15,000 sq ft minimum total lot size) is shown in the table against a different district column (RM), not AR.

  minimum lot area per dwelling unit: 43560 sq ft (cluster housing may reduce by planning commission approval) · minimum lot width: 130 ft (measured at minimum front yard setback line)

  “zoning district ar sfr(6) rm mhp (5) cbd c i minimum lot area per dwelling unit or commercial/ industrial bldg. (in sq. ft.) 43,560 10,000 10,000 (3) 10,000 7,200 40,000 80,000”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single-Family Residential (SFR) district inside Clifford village: minimum lot area per dwelling unit.

    “zoning district ar sfr(6) rm mhp (5) cbd c i minimum lot area per dwelling unit or commercial/ industrial bldg. (in sq. ft.) 43,560 10,000 10,000 (3) 10,000 7,200 40,000 80,000”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Agricultural Residential (AR) district inside Clifford village: front yard setback.

  • Front yard is measured from the edge of the street right-of-way (footnote 2).
  • Side yard values for AR could not be read reliably from the OCR table; not stated here. Rear yard 25 ft appears in the AR column order but should be verified.

  minimum front yard setback: 50 ft (measured from edge of street right-of-way)

  “minimum front yard setback (in feet) (2) minimum 50 35 35 35 5 35 75”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Single-Family Residential (SFR) district inside Clifford village: front yard setback.

    “minimum front yard setback (in feet) (2) minimum 50 35 35 35 5 35 75”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  AR and SFR districts inside Clifford village: maximum building height.

  • Read from OCR column order: AR and SFR each 35 ft; the 40 ft value falls in the I column.
  • Verify against the printed table before relying on it.

  maximum building height: <= 35 ft

  “maximum building height (in feet) maximum lot coverage % 35 35 35 35 35 35 40”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Village of Clifford or Lapeer County directly.

• Building permit — Building permits for new homes inside Clifford village.
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption inside Clifford village.
• Building code adopted — Construction code adoption inside Clifford village.
• Inspections — Building inspections inside Clifford village.
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy inside Clifford village.

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.