Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Catawissa Borough, Pennsylvania

At a glance

Zoning

Yes, a borough zoning ordinance adopted in 1974¹

Zoning districts

R-1, R-2, B-1, I-1 and C-1⁴

Building permit

Required under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code²

Septic permit

Required from a local agency before installation³

Floodplain

Limited development rules apply in identified floodplain⁵

Owner-builder

Pennsylvania has no general contractor license requirement for owners working on their own primary residence⁶

Who to call

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

Does Catawissa, PA have zoning, and what does it mean for your lot?

Catawissa Borough has a zoning chapter that regulates the location and use of buildings and land inside the borough, adopted in 1974¹. The borough divides its land into residential districts R-1 and R-2, central commercial B-1, light industrial I-1 and a C-1 conservation area⁴.

Lot size, yard setbacks and building height are set district by district in the ordinance's area and bulk schedule, so the answer for a given lot depends on which district it sits in⁷⁸⁹. We did not confirm the figures themselves; read the area and bulk schedule in the borough's zoning chapter or ask the borough's zoning officer for your parcel's district. Whether recreational vehicles or tiny homes may be lived in within each district is also unconfirmed here, so ask before you plan on it.

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

Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code requires a permit before residential construction and regulated electrical, gas, mechanical and plumbing work begins in municipalities that enforce it². Most Pennsylvania municipalities administer the code themselves, and the state's Department of Labor and Industry handles it only where a municipality has opted out¹⁰.

We could not confirm which office or third-party agency issues building permits inside Catawissa Borough. The borough's code lists a building permits chapter that we did not read, so call the borough office to learn who takes the application. Inspections and a certificate of occupancy follow the permit¹¹¹². Qualifying farm buildings can be exempt under the code¹³.

How do septic permits work in Catawissa?

A building served by an on-lot sewage system needs a permit from the local sewage agency before the system is installed³. In Pennsylvania that agency may be a municipality, a group of municipalities or a county health department, and the work is done by a certified sewage enforcement officer¹⁴.

We could not confirm which agency covers Catawissa Borough, or whether your lot is on public sewer, since the borough's code includes a sewers chapter we did not read. Ask the borough office whether your address connects to public sewer before you plan a septic system. Columbia County's soils matter too: the share of soils rated not limited for a conventional drain field is low, so expect a site evaluation¹⁵.

Building a home in Catawissa: the steps, in order

1. Confirm the zoning district for the parcel and its yard and height limits with the borough⁴⁸.
2. Check whether the lot lies in an identified floodplain, where new residential construction must sit at or above the regulatory flood elevation⁵.
3. Settle sewer or septic: ask about public sewer, otherwise obtain a local agency septic permit before installing a system³.
4. Get the Uniform Construction Code building permit before work begins².
5. If the driveway meets a state road, a PennDOT highway occupancy permit is required¹⁶.
6. Pass the required inspections and obtain a certificate of occupancy before moving in¹².

What stays with Columbia County, and what to check before you buy

Zoning inside the borough is the borough's decision; the county's subdivision and land development ordinance applies only to municipalities without their own¹⁷. For land outside the borough, see the Columbia County page.

Before buying, confirm the zoning district, sewer or septic status and floodplain mapping for the parcel. Columbia County's effective property tax rate is about 1.1%¹⁸, and the median property tax bill is about $2,266 per year¹⁹.

Watch-outs

• We could not confirm the borough office, phone number or code officer for Catawissa; ask the borough office which office issues building permits and zoning approval, since the borough's own zoning ordinance governs land inside it¹.
• Floodplain parcels carry extra rules: no new construction within the stated distance of a stream bank without a state DEP permit⁵.
• Catawissa Township's offices do not serve the borough; the borough's own zoning ordinance applies inside borough limits¹.

Sources

1. Catawissa Borough Code Ch. 345 Zoning, Art. I (Borough of Catawissa), quoted and re-checked
2. Part XIV, Uniform Construction Code, Chapter 403 Administration (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
3. 25 Pa. Code § 72.22. Permit issuance (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
4. Catawissa Borough Code Ch. 345 Zoning, Art. IV Establishment of District Zones (Borough of Catawissa), quoted and re-checked
5. Catawissa Borough Code Ch. 189 Floodplain Management, Art. IV (Borough of Catawissa), quoted and re-checked
6. Contractor Licensing (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
7. Catawissa Borough Code Ch. 345 Zoning, Art. V Basic District Regulations (Borough of Catawissa), quoted and re-checked
8. Catawissa Borough Code Ch. 345 Zoning, Art. V Basic District Regulations (Borough of Catawissa), quoted and re-checked
9. Catawissa Borough Code Ch. 345 Zoning, Art. V Basic District Regulations (Borough of Catawissa), quoted and re-checked
10. Uniform Construction Code, quoted and re-checked
11. Part XIV, Uniform Construction Code, Chapter 403 Administration (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
12. Part XIV, Uniform Construction Code, Chapter 403 Administration (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
13. Pennsylvania Construction Code Act — Chapter 1 (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
14. Act 537 Sewage Facilities (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
15. 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
16. Apply for a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
17. Columbia County Municipal List & Ordinance/Zoning List, quoted and re-checked
18. Effective property tax rate: Bolthole Index county data
19. Median property tax bill: 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.