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

Rules another office applies inside Belfast Township

Belfast 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 permitRequired

  Structures on land inside Belfast township (unincorporated Murray County); county zoning certificate issued by the Murray County zoning administrator.

  • This is the county zoning certificate; a separate state building code permit was not verified.
  • Ordinance lists exemptions from zoning certificates: entrance steps to dwellings with a landing no larger than 25 square feet, agricultural concrete fences, agricultural feed bunks.
  • A valid septic permit or certificate of compliance is needed before a zoning certificate for a dwelling addition or new construction needing an SSTS.

  “zoning certificates are required for all structures, regardless of whether the structure is large or small, portable, temporary, or permanent.”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Belfast township, Murray County, MN: zoned under the Murray County Zoning Ordinance (county zoning, not a township-adopted ordinance); the county publishes a Belfast township zoning map.

  • The township itself was not found to adopt its own zoning; no official township no-zoning statement was found.
  • Ordinance jurisdiction excludes incorporated municipalities and has stated exceptions (Article 12 section 1214.2 Hadley shoreland; Article 17 general regulations).
  • Ordinance adopted October 22, 2019, effective January 1, 2020.

  “the jurisdiction of this ordinance shall apply to all areas in murray county outside the incorporated limits of municipalities, except those areas in article 12, section 1214.2; and with the exception of the general regulations in article 17.”

• Who permits septicCounty (with conditions)

  Subsurface sewage treatment systems on land inside Belfast township; Murray County administers SSTS permits through its zoning ordinance Article 25.

  • County ordinance jurisdiction covers areas outside incorporated municipalities.
  • SSTS permit must be obtained in conjunction with the zoning certificate for new construction or alteration needing one.

  “for any new construction, addition or alteration of an existing structure for which a ssts permit is required, approval and issuance of a valid ssts septic permit must be obtained in conjunction with the issuance of a land use permit by the department.”

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.