Zoning, building permits and septic rules in South Abington Township, Pennsylvania

South Abington Township’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside South Abington township limits, Lackawanna County, PA. Township-adopted zoning ordinance exists; it is not county zoning.

  • The township forms page lists an 'old zoning ordinance' and, separately, a 'sapa ordinance' (regional Scranton-Abingtons Planning Association ordinance). The SAPA PDF (2024/05 upload) exceeded the open-page size limit and was not opened, so which instrument currently governs is unverified.
  • The opened PDF header reads '2014-11' and its adoption section says only that it 'shall take effect immediately subsequent to the adoption hereof'; no adoption date is stated in the text reviewed.

  “old zoning ordinance view document view document”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Land inside South Abington township limits. Dimensional district table in the township zoning ordinance.

  • Table 2 text in the opened copy is OCR-garbled; district column labels could not be reliably mapped to district names. Districts visible in the text include R-1, R-2, R-2a, R-3 and S-1 (OCR reads some as s-i).
  • Applies only if the 2014-11 text remains the operative township ordinance (see sa-local-zoning-present).

  “south abington township, zoning ordinance table2 regulations governing the size of lots, yards and buildings”

• Mandatory utility hookupSewer (with conditions)

  Buildings inside South Abington township within 150 feet of a township sewer line.

  • Connection is required only for buildings within 150 feet of the sewer line; beyond that, the sewers page does not require connection.
  • Sewer account certification form and payment are required seven days in advance.
  • Water connection requirement not found on the opened pages; no water claim is made.

  connection distance threshold: <= 150 feet

  “south abington township requires buildings within 150 feet of the sewer line to connect to the system.”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Land divisions inside South Abington township.

  • The forms page lists a 'saldo ordinance' document; the page does not expand the acronym, and the ordinance text was not opened, so the requirements are unknown.
  • Subdivision approval conditions not verified.

  “saldo ordinance view document view document”

• Permit processPartial

  Building, mechanical/plumbing, fire protection, pave cut and zoning appeal permits filed with South Abington township.

  • Process is partial: the forms page lists downloadable forms to complete and send in, but no step-by-step process, fees, or review timeline was on the opened page.
  • Phone for township office is (570)586-2111 per the township site header.

  “mechanical / plumbing permit complete form and send in download form”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask South Abington Township or Lackawanna County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption in South Abington township.
• Building code adopted — Building code enforced inside South Abington township.
• Inspections — Building inspections inside South Abington township.
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificates of occupancy for buildings inside South Abington township.
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling floor area in South Abington township.

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.