Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Carrington, North Dakota

Carrington’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Construction, reconstruction, relocation, alteration, or associated excavation for buildings inside Carrington city.

  • Emergency work may proceed when it is not practical or possible to obtain a permit, but an application must be submitted within 24 hours after completion, excluding weekends and holidays.
  • Mobile homes and manufactured homes require a placement or relocation permit.

  emergency permit-application deadline: 24 hours (After completion; weekends and holidays excluded.)

  “shall obtain a permit from the Code Administrator.”

• Building code adoptedAdopted (with conditions)

  Buildings and structures in Carrington city.

  • The adopted reference includes future updates and amendments to the North Dakota State Building Code.
  • parameters are subject to the City code's incorporated state-code provisions.

  “the City of Carrington hereby adopts said code as so modified.”

• InspectionsRequired

  Building work inside Carrington city for which the City code or adopted building code requires inspection.

  • The building official may accept certified written reports from recognized inspection services in lieu of personally performing an inspection.

  “Inspections required by this code or under the provisions of the adopted building code shall be made by the building official.”

• Certificate of occupancyLimited

  Completed buildings in Carrington city, including placed mobile homes and manufactured homes.

  • Issuance follows inspection and assurance that the ordinance's provisions and conditions are met.
  • If violations or deviations are found, the Code Administrator reports and recommends action to the City Council.

  “The Code Administrator shall issue a certificate of occupancy upon inspection of the completed building”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Carrington city limits, North Dakota.

  • The ordinance also applies to a defined extraterritorial planning area outside city limits; this claim is limited to land inside the city.

  “This Ordinance shall be known, and may be cited and referred to as the Carrington Zoning Ordinance.”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Manufactured-home units in the R-1 Single Family Rural Residential District inside Carrington city.

  • The unit must be installed on a permanent foundation or basement.
  • The use is listed as a conditional use.

  “Manufactured home units installed on a permanent foundation or basement.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Allowed — Manufactured homes in the R-2 Multi-Family Residential District inside Carrington city.

    “Manufactured homes installed on permanent foundations or basements.”

• Off-grid sanitationLimited

  Trailer coach parks inside Carrington city.

  • Waste may instead be discharged into a public sewer in compliance with applicable ordinances.
  • A private sewer, disposal plant, or septic tank system must be constructed and operated so it presents no health hazard.

  “or into a private sewer and disposal plant or septic tank system”

• Agricultural exemptionAvailable

  Use of land and buildings for agriculture inside Carrington city.

  • The exemption applies to agriculture as defined in the zoning ordinance.

  “These regulations shall not apply to the use of land and buildings for agriculture as defined herein.”

• Permit feesVariable (with conditions)

  Building permits issued by Carrington's Code Administrator.

  • The applicable amount is established by the City's Resolution of Fees and Schedules; no amount is stated in the zoning ordinance provision.

  “The Code Administrator shall charge and collect a fee according to the Resolution of Fees and Schedules established by the City of Carrington.”

Rules another office applies inside Carrington

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

• Lot coverageSpecified

  New non-residential uses in the C-1 General Commercial District inside Carrington city.

  • Existing non-residential uses have no minimum lot area; the Planning Commission determines needs for new uses.

  maximum lot coverage: <= 50 percent (New non-residential uses.)

  “For new uses, the Planning Commission shall make a determination of needs provided that no structure shall occupy more than fifty (50%) of the lot area.”

• Building heightSpecified

  Buildings in the R-1 Single Family Rural Residential District inside Carrington city.

  • Institutional buildings and church steeples may exceed the stated limit if approved by the Planning Commission.

  maximum height: <= 35 feet (Institutional buildings and church steeples approved by the Planning Commission.) · maximum stories: <= 2.5 stories (Institutional buildings and church steeples approved by the Planning Commission.)

  “No building shall be more than two and one half (2 ½) stories or thirty five (35) feet high”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Carrington or Foster County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-performed residential construction inside Carrington city.
• Minimum dwelling size — Dwellings inside Carrington city.
• Camping on your land — Temporary camping other than trailer-coach parking or occupancy inside Carrington city.
• Tiny homes — Tiny-home occupancy inside Carrington city.
• Accessory dwellings — Accessory dwelling units inside Carrington city.

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.