Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Winnebago Township, Minnesota

Winnebago Township’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Installation, repair, addition to, or moving of a building or part of a building inside Winnebago Township's county-zoning jurisdiction; Houston County calls the approval a Zoning Permit.

  • Interior and exterior maintenance and minor repairs of existing structures are exempt.
  • A Zoning Permit cannot be issued until its application has been accepted by the Zoning Administrator.
  • For construction or alteration, the application must include the lot dimensions and legal description, structure locations, dimensions and setbacks, access and road jurisdiction, well and ISTS/drainfield location, and any permit-required topographic or vegetative-alteration plan.
  • The permit is valid for one year from issuance and is non-transferable.
  • The county ordinance's jurisdiction is land outside incorporated municipal limits, plus a municipality that chooses county jurisdiction.

  zoning permit validity: 1 year (The permit is non-transferable.) · extension fee: 50 USD (One-year extension where reasonably diligent construction could not start within one year; total validity may reach two years from the original application date.)

  “Hereinafter, no person, firm, or corporation shall install, repair, add to, or move any building or part thereof, including the following: decks, homes, cabins, accessory structures and ag-use structures (machine sheds, livestock housing, grain bins, up-right silos, etc.) without first securing a Zoning Permit. Interior and exterior maintenance and minor repairs of existing structures shall be exempt.”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Winnebago Township that is outside incorporated municipal limits; zoning is administered under the Houston County Zoning Ordinance rather than shown as a township-adopted ordinance.

  • The county ordinance applies outside incorporated municipal limits and also within a municipality that chooses to come under its jurisdiction.
  • The official County Board agenda documents County consideration of a conditional-use permit for a cabin in Winnebago Township's Ag District.

  “The petitioner is requesting a Conditional Use Permit to construct a cabin in the agricultural protection district of Winnebago Township. [...] The Houston County Zoning Ordinance provides the following requirements for cabins in the agriculture protection district:”

Rules another office applies inside Winnebago Township

Winnebago 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 septicCounty (with conditions)

  Subsurface sewage treatment systems inside Winnebago Township where the township does not administer its own SSTS ordinance compliant with Minnesota Rules; the responsible local authority is Houston County.

  • A city or township administering its own SSTS ordinance compliant with Minnesota Rules is an exception to county permitting and inspection.
  • The state rule requires counties with SSTS ordinances to permit and inspect SSTS in townships that do not administer a compliant SSTS ordinance.

  “All counties must adopt and implement SSTS ordinances in compliance with chapters 7080 and 7081 that also comply with this chapter. Ordinances must apply to all land area within the county, except in towns and cities that have adopted ordinances that are in conformance with the county ordinance and this chapter. All counties with SSTS ordinances must permit and inspect SSTS within cities and townships that do not administer an SSTS ordinance that complies with these rules.”

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.