Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Tompkins, New York

Town of Tompkins’s own rules

• Mandatory utility hookupConditional

  New household sewer connections and expansions of existing household connections from parcels within the Town's Sewer District.

  • Town Board approval is required for each new household connection or expansion from a parcel within the Sewer District.
  • Town Board criteria include remaining unallocated treatment capacity, development density and consistency with the master/comprehensive plan, competing demands, timing, infrastructure impacts, existing allocation, and contractual obligations.
  • The source identifies the Tompkins Sewer Service Area; it does not establish mandatory public-water connection or sewer connection outside the Sewer District.

  “Each new household connection to the sewer collyction system or expansion from an existing household connection from a parcel within the Sewer District will require an approval of the Town Board.”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Land within the unincorporated portion of the Town of Tompkins.

  • The Planning Board must approve the subdivision under the Town regulations.
  • The approved plat must be filed in the Delaware County Clerk's Office.
  • Construction, excavation, filling, regrading, clearing vegetation, or similar activities in a proposed subdivision may not begin until Planning Board approval or conditional approval.

  “Land within the unincorporated portion of the Town of Tompkins may be subdivided into lots, blocks, or sites, with or without streets or highways, only if approved by the Planning Board in accordance with the procedures and requirements as set forth in these Regulations, and only if the approved plat is duly filed in the Office of the County Clerk of Delaware County, New York.”

• Permit processPartial

  Building permit applications for structures in a proposed Town subdivision.

  • No building permit may issue before subdivision approval and filing in the County Clerk's Office.
  • A single-family residence may receive a single building permit based on the entire tract if there is no other existing residence in the proposed subdivision and the proposed building location complies with an approved preliminary plat.

  “No building permit shall be issued for the erection of any building within a proposed subdivision until said subdivision has been duly approved by the Planning Board and filed in the Office of the County Clerk.”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Tompkins

Town of Tompkins 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

  Work inside the Town of Tompkins that is required to conform to the New York Uniform Code.

  • Certain exceptions are permitted under the state program.
  • The state source says a local government may opt out of administration and enforcement, which transfers responsibility to the county.

  “Building permits must be required for any work which is required to conform to the Uniform Code. Certain exceptions are permitted.”

• Building code adoptedAdopted (with conditions)

  Building construction inside the Town of Tompkins, except New York City, which is outside the target jurisdiction.

  • The Uniform Code is automatically effective; the state source says an individual town need not take an affirmative adoption step.
  • The state source explains that a town may opt out of administration and enforcement, in which case responsibility passes to the county; no Town of Tompkins opt-out record was located.

  “The Uniform Code is automatically in effect in each city, town, and village in the State (except New York City) by directive of the State Legislature.”

• InspectionsRequired

  Construction inside the Town of Tompkins that is subject to the New York Uniform Code.

  • The required inspections are of certain specified elements of the construction process.
  • Permit holders must keep work accessible and exposed until inspection and acceptance by the municipality.

  “Inspections of certain specified elements of the construction process must be required. Building permits holders must keep work accessible and exposed until inspected and accepted by the municipality.”

• Certificate of occupancyRequired

  Work inside the Town of Tompkins for which a building permit was required, and changes in general occupancy classification.

  • Applies to all work for which a building permit was required.
  • Also applies whenever the general occupancy classification changes.

  “A certificate of occupancy or a certificate of compliance must be required (1) for all work for which a building permit was required and (2) whenever the general occupancy classification of a building is changed.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Tompkins or Delaware County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-built residential construction inside the Town of Tompkins.
• Who permits septic — On-site wastewater systems inside the Town of Tompkins.
• Septic permit — New or altered on-site septic systems inside the Town of Tompkins.
• Septic inspection — On-site septic systems inside the Town of Tompkins.
• Off-grid sanitation — Off-grid sanitation proposed inside the Town of Tompkins.

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.