Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Franklin Park, Pennsylvania

At a glance

Zoning

Yes: borough zoning ordinance and zoning map (Chapter 212)¹

Building permit

Required under the Uniform Construction Code, adopted by the borough²⁵

Who issues building permits

Franklin Park Building and Zoning Department³

Septic

Allegheny County Health Department, Sewage Enforcement Officers⁴

Public sewer

Buildings within 300 feet of a public sanitary sewer must connect at the owner's cost⁶

Subdivision

Regulated by borough Chapter 184⁷

Driveway on a state road

PennDOT highway occupancy permit⁸

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 14, 2026.

Does Franklin Park, PA have zoning, and what does it mean for RVs, tiny homes and lot size?

Yes. Franklin Park Borough adopted its own zoning ordinance, Chapter 212 of the borough code, with an adopted borough zoning map¹. The borough describes seven districts: four residential and three mixed-use³. Residential districts R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 and the mixed-use M-1, M-2, M-3 districts appear in the borough's Table 5-1 of area and bulk requirements⁹.

Lot size, setbacks and height depend on the district, so find the parcel's district on the zoning map before you plan anything. We could not confirm the borough's rules for RV occupancy, tiny homes, accessory dwellings or minimum dwelling size; ask the Building and Zoning Department before you buy.

Zoning here is the borough's, not Allegheny County's: county zoning power in Pennsylvania reaches only municipalities that have no zoning ordinance of their own¹⁰.

Do you need a building permit in Franklin Park, and who issues it?

Building work in Franklin Park falls under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, which the borough adopted as its building code². The UCC requires a building permit before starting work⁵, and a certificate of occupancy must be issued before a building can be used¹¹.

The borough's Building and Zoning Department handles building inspection and zoning, and the borough's forms page lists a building permit application, a certificate of occupancy application and a grading permit application³. Allegheny County does not issue municipal building permits; it directs applicants to file in the municipality where the work happens¹². We could not confirm the borough's current permit fees; ask the department.

Owner-builder work on your own primary residence is exempt from contractor licensing statewide, not from the permit¹³.

How do septic permits work inside Franklin Park?

On-lot sewage permits for Franklin Park addresses come from the Allegheny County Health Department's Sewage Enforcement Officers under the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act⁴. A permit from the Department is required before any construction of an on-lot system¹⁴.

Much of the borough sits on public sewer. Where a property abuts a public sanitary sewer, buildings within 300 feet must connect at the owner's cost⁶. Countywide, continued use of a septic system is unlawful when any part of the building is within 150 feet of an available public sewer¹⁵. Confirm with the Health Department whether the lot you are considering has sewer available. Only about 11.6% of Allegheny County soils are rated not limited for a conventional drain field¹⁶, so an on-lot lot usually needs a site evaluation.

Building a home in Franklin Park: the steps, in order

1. Find the parcel's zoning district on the borough zoning map and confirm the use is allowed⁹.
2. If the lot is being divided, check the borough's subdivision rules in Chapter 184⁷.
3. Ask the Allegheny County Health Department whether public sewer is available or an on-lot permit is needed⁴.
4. Apply to the borough for the building permit under the Uniform Construction Code²; if the site is in a floodplain, sealed documentation by a registered design professional is required¹⁷.
5. If the driveway meets a state highway, the building permit must carry notice that a PennDOT highway occupancy permit is required⁸.
6. Pass the required inspections¹⁸ and obtain the certificate of occupancy before moving in¹¹.

What stays with Allegheny County, and what should you check before you buy?

The county, not the borough, issues septic permits⁴ and reviews work in county rights-of-way through a highway occupancy permit¹⁹. Outside the borough, other Allegheny County municipalities set their own zoning²⁰; see the Allegheny County page for the county-level picture.

Before you buy, check the zoning district, sewer availability, floodplain status and which road the driveway meets. Allegheny County's effective property tax rate is 1.6% and the median bill is $3,399 per year²¹²². Franklin Park is a suburban borough, and the county's population density is about 1,678 people per square mile²³.

Watch-outs

• We could not confirm Franklin Park's permit fees, RV or tiny-home rules, accessory-dwelling rules or private well rules; call the Building and Zoning Department before you commit³.
• A building permit is separate from a septic permit: the borough issues one and the Allegheny County Health Department issues the other⁴.
• A driveway onto a state highway needs a PennDOT highway occupancy permit⁸.

Sources

1. Franklin Park Borough Code Ch. 212 Zoning, Article 100 General Provisions (Borough of Franklin Park), quoted and re-checked
2. Franklin Park Borough Code Ch. 99 Construction Code, Uniform (Borough of Franklin Park), quoted and re-checked
3. Franklin Park Borough Building and Zoning Department (franklinparkborough.us)
4. Water Pollution Control, quoted and re-checked
5. Apply for a Uniform Construction Code Building Permit, quoted and re-checked
6. Franklin Park Borough Code Ch. 166 Sewers, Art. II Connection to Sanitary Sewers (Borough of Franklin Park), quoted and re-checked
7. Franklin Park Borough Code Ch. 99 Construction Code, Uniform (Borough of Franklin Park), quoted and re-checked
8. Uniform Construction Code Chapter 403, quoted and re-checked
9. Ordinance No. 689-2024 amending Chapter 212 Table 5-1 (Borough of Franklin Park), quoted and re-checked
10. Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
11. Apply for a Uniform Construction Code Building Permit, quoted and re-checked
12. Allegheny County - Building Permits (2026 county census)
13. Contractor Licensing (2026 county census)
14. Water Pollution Control, quoted and re-checked
15. Article XIV Sewage Management, quoted and re-checked
16. Share of soils USDA rates "not limited" for a conventional septic drain field (SSURGO). A strict rating: the median county is about 6% and a tenth of counties are 0%, so a low figure means most lots need a site evaluation or an engineered system, not that septic is impossible. Cite it only with that caveat: Bolthole Index county data
17. Apply for a Uniform Construction Code Building Permit, quoted and re-checked
18. Apply for a Uniform Construction Code Building Permit, quoted and re-checked
19. Permits and Licenses, quoted and re-checked
20. Land Use Planning, quoted and re-checked
21. Effective property tax rate: Bolthole Index county data
22. Median property tax bill: Bolthole Index county data
23. Population density: Bolthole Index county data

Written October 14, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.