Building permits, zoning and septic in Burtchville Township, Michigan

At a glance

Building permits

Required for new construction; township zoning and building review¹

Zoning

Township zoning applies; confirm the parcel district with the Zoning Administrator¹⁴

Septic permits

County Health Department approval before installation or repair²

Private water systems

County Health Department application and permit before work starts³

RV and tiny-home living

Residential occupancy rules unconfirmed; ask the township Zoning Administrator⁴

Owner-builder

Michigan licensing exception for own use and occupancy on own property; building requirements remain⁵

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 12, 2026.

Do you need a building permit in Burtchville Township, MI?

Burtchville Township requires building permits for new construction, accessory structures, decks and porches, roofing work, and the electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling work listed in its building packet.¹ The township issues a building permit after the project complies with its zoning ordinances and receives approval from the Zoning Administrator and Building Inspector.¹

Michigan has an owner-builder licensing exception when a person erects a residential structure for personal use and occupancy on that person’s property, but that exception does not remove building-permit, inspection or zoning requirements.⁵ Bring the proposed scope of work to the township before assuming a small project is exempt.¹

Does Burtchville Township have zoning, and who issues building permits?

Use the Burtchville Township building packet for building applications and the required site diagram and scaled drawings.¹ The diagram must show the lot size, proposed construction dimensions, setbacks, well or septic location, and driveway.¹

Reach the township office at (810) 385-5577 or [email protected] to contact the Zoning Administrator or Building Inspector.⁴ Building and zoning review belong at the township; sewage permits stay with St. Clair County Health Department.¹² Ask the township to confirm the parcel’s zoning district and applicable lot-size, setback and floor-area requirements before finalizing a home design.¹ In Burtchville Township’s A/R Agricultural/Residential and R-1A Single-Family Residential districts, buildings may cover no more than 30% of the lot; confirm the other dimensional requirements and footnotes for the parcel’s district.⁶⁷

Can you live in an RV or tiny home in Burtchville Township?

We could not confirm a complete Burtchville Township rule for living in an RV on private land, or a specific tiny-home approval pathway; ask the township Zoning Administrator about the proposed dwelling and parcel.⁴ Request an answer covering residential occupancy, temporary use during construction, minimum floor area and the applicable zoning district.¹

Burtchville Township’s temporary-dwelling provision requires approved potable water and sewage-disposal facilities before occupancy; meeting that sanitation condition alone does not establish permission for a particular RV or tiny home.⁸ A new building or altered building subject to Michigan’s construction code cannot be occupied until the code official issues a Certificate of Occupancy.⁹

How do septic and well permits work in Burtchville Township?

Before installing or repairing a septic system in Burtchville Township, obtain a sewage permit from St. Clair County Health Department.² The county instructions cover residential and commercial buildings generating less than 10,000 gallons of sewage per day.¹⁰ Environmental Health can answer septic questions at (810) 987-5306.¹¹

For a private water system, the County Health Department requires an application and permit before construction, development or installation starts.³ St. Clair County’s soil rating shows only 0.1% of soils rated not limited for conventional septic drain fields; that countywide figure supports getting a site evaluation, not concluding that septic is impossible on a Burtchville lot.¹² Coordinate the home, driveway, well and septic layout before submitting the township’s required site diagram.¹

What are the steps to build a home in Burtchville Township?

1. Ask the township Zoning Administrator to confirm the parcel district and review the proposed use, building dimensions and setbacks.¹⁴
2. Arrange County Health Department approvals for a private well or septic system, when applicable, before starting that work.³²
3. Contact St. Clair County Road Commission for driveway work in a county-road right-of-way; its residential-driveway instructions also cover inspection of existing driveways for new construction.¹³
4. Submit the building application, detailed site diagram and scaled drawings to the township for zoning and building review.¹
5. Schedule construction inspections with the appropriate inspector at each stage, and obtain the required Certificate of Occupancy before occupying the home.¹⁹

What should you check before buying land in Burtchville Township?

Ask Burtchville Township’s Zoning Administrator about flood-prone land before relying on a parcel split or proposed homesite: township zoning certification and compliance approval in those areas depend on flood-damage protection, drainage and protected utilities.¹⁴ The township provision includes areas identified on the flood map and areas otherwise known by the Zoning Administrator to be flood-prone.¹⁴

For a county-road driveway, speak with St. Clair County Road Commission before planning work in the public right-of-way.¹³ For wells and septic, speak with County Health Department Environmental Health rather than treating township building approval as sanitation approval.³² For land outside Burtchville Township, use the St. Clair County guide and confirm the relevant community’s zoning authority, because zoning varies by local community.¹⁵

Watch-outs

• An owner-builder licensing exception does not waive Burtchville Township building permits or zoning requirements.⁵
• We could not confirm residential RV occupancy or an accessory-dwelling approval rule in Burtchville Township; ask the Zoning Administrator before buying for either use.⁴
• County Health Department approval of a temporary dwelling’s water and sewage facilities is a sanitation condition, not a complete occupancy authorization.⁸

Sources

1. Burtchville Township Building Inspector (burtchville.org)
2. On-Site Sewage Disposal Systems (Burtchville Township), quoted and re-checked
3. St. Clair County Health Department - Environmental Health Division (stclaircounty.org)
4. Burtchville Township Office — Zoning Administrator contact (burtchville.org)
5. Frequently Asked Questions – Residential Builder (Michigan statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
6. § 154.063 District Regulations (Burtchville Township), quoted and re-checked
7. § 154.063 District Regulations (Burtchville Township), quoted and re-checked
8. codelibrary.amlegal.com (Burtchville Township), quoted and re-checked
9. Certificate of Occupancy Request (Michigan statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
10. On-Site Sewage Disposal Systems (Burtchville Township), quoted and re-checked
11. St. Clair County Health Department - Environmental Health Division (stclaircounty.org)
12. Share of soils USDA rates "not limited" for a conventional septic drain field (SSURGO). A strict rating: the median county is about 6% and a tenth of counties are 0%, so a low figure means most lots need a site evaluation or an engineered system, not that septic is impossible. Cite it only with that caveat: Bolthole Index county data
13. St. Clair County Road Commission (sccrc-roads.org)
14. § 154.012 Drainage of Property and Development in Flood-Prone Areas (Burtchville Township), quoted and re-checked
15. Best Known Community Zoning, quoted and re-checked

Written October 12, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.