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

Interior Township’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Interior township's limits covered by the Interior Township rural zoning ordinance (the township's own ordinance, adopted by the township board)

  • Adopted January 6, 1977; amended through March 9, 2020 according to the ordinance cover page.
  • Whether the ordinance reaches every parcel in the township was not confirmed from the pages opened.

  “interior township rural zoning ordinance interior township ontonagon county, michigan adopted: amended: amended: amended: amended: amended: amended: january 6, 1977 march 9, 1999 may 13, 2003 march 14, 2006 november 15, 2010 june 8, 2015 march 9, 2020”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Districts created by the Interior township rural zoning ordinance

  • Table of contents lists commercial-residential, agriculture and residential (AR-1 and AR-2), lake residential (L-R), forestry and recreation (F-R) and other districts; the district map is a separate PDF on the township site that was not opened.

  “ii. article two: zoning districts a. section 2.01 classification of districts”

• Minimum dwelling sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Dwellings in the Lake Residential (L-R) district in Interior township

  • Applies only to the L-R district; minimum floor area for AR-1, AR-2 and other districts was not established from the chart.
  • Minimum finished living area is 500 square feet.

  minimum finished living area: >= 500 square feet (L-R district only)

  “1. said dwelling shall have a minimum finished living area of no less than 500 (five hundred) square feet.”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Main single-family residential district AR-1 (agriculture and residential district 1) in Interior township

  • The minimum-area figure is read from Appendix A, Limitations Chart, which is garbled in text extraction; confirm against the PDF page 31 of 38.
  • The chart also lists a 300-foot minimum lot depth for some districts; not verified for AR-1.

  minimum lot area: >= 2.5 acres (Per Appendix A chart; accessory buildings listed separately in the chart)

  “a-r 1 2.5acres acces. bldgs 300 50 7 7 25 25 500 a-r 2 10 acres acces. bldgs 500 50”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Agriculture and residential district 2 (AR-2) in Interior township, the rural-residential district

    “a-r 1 2.5acres acces. bldgs 300 50 7 7 25 25 500 a-r 2 10 acres acces. bldgs 500 50”

• Manufactured homesAllowed

  One single-family dwelling on land in the AR-1 agriculture and residential district 1 in Interior township

  • The use is for one single-family dwelling; mobile home is defined by section 15.10, which was not opened.
  • Other districts (for example C-R1 and L-R) allow mobile homes only if they meet residential-dwelling requirements; not separately recorded here.

  “1. one single family dwelling, including mobile homes, as per definition, as provided by section 15.10.”

• Accessory dwellingsLimited

  A second dwelling on a parcel in the AR-1 district in Interior township

  • Allowed only as living quarters for hired help or family partnership members, not as a general rental or accessory unit.
  • Section 11.01b referenced by the ordinance was not opened.

  “2. one single family dwelling, in addition to that provided in section 5.02 (1) above, as living quarters for hired help or family partnership members, such as a tenant house, mobile home, apartment or room for persons employed on premises.”

Rules another office applies inside Interior Township

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

• Who permits septicLocal (with conditions)

  Dwellings in the Lake Residential (L-R) district in Interior township; the Western UP health district approves the septic system

  • Applies to L-R district dwellings only; septic authority for other districts was not established.
  • Common private water and sanitary waste disposal systems are also allowed if approved by the district health department or the state, whichever has jurisdiction.

  “2. said dwelling shall be permanently connected to septic and water supply system, as required and approved by the western up health district and shall have an approved permanent electrical connection.”

Still unanswered

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

• Building permit — New residential construction inside Interior township
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builders in Interior township
• Building code adopted — Residential construction inside Interior township
• Inspections — Inspections of new residential construction inside Interior township
• Certificate of occupancy — Occupancy certificates for new dwellings inside Interior 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.