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

Freedom Township’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Freedom township limits (Washtenaw County, Michigan). The township administers its own Zoning Ordinance No. 43, effective February 1, 2014.

  • The 2014 ordinance text was read from the township's own PDF. The township's ordinance page and search results indicate later amendments (a September 13, 2016 amendment effective October 1, 2016 and map amendment 43-G adopted August 9, 2022); those were not opened and must be checked against a consolidated current version.
  • The township site states further work on revising the Zoning Ordinance is underway; a 2023 notice describes pending changes to dimensional standards and waterfront requirements that were not read.
  • Zoning districts and dimensional standards cited elsewhere in this record come from the 2014 text.

  “the standards and regulations of this ordinance shall apply to all land, structures, uses, and land development projects established or commenced after the effective date of this ordinance.”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts of Freedom township: Agriculture-Resource (AR), Rural Residential (R-2), Manufactured Housing Park (R-6), Lake (LK), Convenience Commercial (C-1), Special Commercial (C-2), Industrial-Research (I-1) and Public/Semi-Public Services (PSP).

  • Districts are named in the 2014 ordinance text; the official zoning map was amended later (ordinance 43-G, adopted August 9, 2022, per a township search snippet not opened).

  “section 2.101 zoning districts. for the purpose of this ordinance, freedom township is hereby divided into districts as follows:”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Lots in the Agriculture-Resource (AR) district of Freedom township.

  • The minimum area is read from the Section 3.101 table as extracted from the PDF text. Column alignment in that extraction is ambiguous, so the district-to-value mapping must be confirmed against the rendered PDF.
  • Minimum width for AR is also listed in the table (300 feet on the extracted row), not checked against the rendered table.
  • Lots in this district may be subject to the land-division rules in Article 9.0.

  minimum lot area: >= 10 acres

  “minimum area (acres or square-feet) 10.0 acres 3.0 22,000 10,000 10,000 1.0 1.0 10,000 acres sq.ft. sq.ft. sq.ft. acre acre sq.ft.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Lots in the Rural Residential (R-2) district of Freedom township, the main single-family residential district.

    “minimum area (acres or square-feet) 10.0 acres 3.0 22,000 10,000 10,000 1.0 1.0 10,000 acres sq.ft. sq.ft. sq.ft. acre acre sq.ft.”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Front, side and rear yards by zoning district in Freedom township, including AR and R-2.

  • The yard setback values are in the Section 3.101 table, whose extracted layout does not reliably pair numbers with districts; per-district numbers were not assigned here and must be confirmed against the rendered PDF.
  • Yard encroachments and exceptions are in Sections 3.203 through 3.205 (not read).

  “lot standards (per unit) yard / setback standards (feet) front yard side yard minimum maximum minimum, each side minimum rear yard”

• Lot coverageDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Maximum ground floor coverage and related density limits by district in Freedom township.

  • Coverage percentages appear in the Section 3.101 table, whose extracted layout is ambiguous; per-district values were not assigned here.
  • Confirm against the rendered PDF before relying on any district figure.

  “maximum ground floor coverage (gfc) 10% 10% maximum net dwelling unit density (units per acre) 35 30 maximum floor area ratio (far”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Maximum building height by district in Freedom township; the AR and R-2 figures are the main residential and agricultural limits.

  • The height row in the extracted Section 3.101 table reads 35 for AR and R-2 (also 35 for C-1, C-2, PSP and LK, 25 for R-6, 45 for I-1), and stories 2.5 for AR and R-2. Confirm column alignment against the rendered PDF.
  • Height exceptions are in Section 3.201 (not read).

  maximum building height (AR and R-2): <= 35 feet (Height exceptions in Section 3.201 not read)

  “section 3.101 table of dimensional standards by district. districts standards ar r-2 r-6 lk c-1 c-2 i-1 psp feet 35 35 25 35 35 35 45 35 stories 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.5 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Land divisions and boundary adjustments inside Freedom township.

  • Land divisions are processed through a township application and permit under zoning ordinance Article 9.0.
  • The Article 9.0 text, the land-split supplemental statement and the Michigan Land Division Act overlay were not read.

  “land division or boundary adjustment application and permit (zoning ordinance article 9.0)”

• Permit feesPublished (with conditions)

  Township zoning and land-use application fees inside Freedom township (zoning compliance, conditional use, site plan, land split and similar).

  • The township says a new fee schedule was uploaded and effective October 9, 2018; the fee schedule itself was not opened.
  • Amounts are not recorded here.

  “new freedom township fee schedule uploaded and effective october 9, 2018.”

• Permit processPublished (with conditions)

  Township zoning-related applications (site plan, conditional use, zoning amendment, variance, land split) inside Freedom township.

  • Complete applications must be submitted to the township clerk 10 business days before the planning commission meeting; incomplete applications are tabled.
  • The township says the planning commission meets the first Tuesday of each month.

  “to be included on the agenda for the planning commission, you must submit a complete application and fee into the clerk 10 business days prior to the planning commission meetings.”

Rules another office applies inside Freedom Township

Freedom 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

  Building construction permitted and inspected by the Western Washtenaw Construction Authority inside Freedom township (the WWCA serves Freedom, Bridgewater and Manchester townships and the City of Manchester).

  • The WWCA page lists the codes as in effect; the page does not state whether any local amendments apply.
  • The page lists the 2015 Michigan Residential Code and 2021 Michigan Building Code (commercial) among the adopted codes.

  “the 2015 michigan residential code, the 2021 michigan building code commercial, the 2021 mechanical code commercial, the 2021 plumbing code commercial and the 2021 michigan electrical code 2021 michigan rehabilitation code, 2021 commercial energy code, part 8 rules incorporating the 2023 nec are now in effect.”

• InspectionsRequired

  Building, trade and related inspections for permitted work inside Freedom township, performed by the Western Washtenaw Construction Authority.

  • The WWCA inspection requirements document (general building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and certificate-of-occupancy inspections) is linked from the WWCA page but was not opened.
  • Inspection scope and scheduling procedure are not verified here.

  “it is responsible for building and trade permits, and corresponding inspections, as detailed in the documents identified below.”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption for homes inside Freedom township.
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for buildings inside Freedom township, issued through the Western Washtenaw Construction Authority.
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size in Freedom township.
• Living in an RV — Occupancy of recreational vehicles on land inside Freedom township.
• Camping on your land — Temporary camping on land inside Freedom 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.