Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Camas, Washington

Camas’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent

  Land inside Camas city limits: the City of Camas adopts and administers its own zoning code (Title 18).

  • Code history in section 18.03.030 cites amendments through ord. no. 25-025, § i (exh. a), 12-15-2025.
  • Applies only inside city limits; unincorporated Clark County land is not covered by this claim.

  “the ordinance codified in this title shall be known and cited as the "zoning code of the city of camas."”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  MF-10 multifamily residential zone inside Camas city limits (not the single-family districts).

  • Table 1 in section 18.09.050 gives separate values for MF-10, MF-18, MF-C overlay and HD-NS; only the MF-10 column is recorded here.
  • Table notes and the dimensional exceptions in sections 18.09.060 through 18.09.180 were not opened.

  minimum lot area (standard lots): >= 3000 square feet · minimum lot width: >= 36 feet

  “minimum lot area (square feet) 3,000 2,100 none 1800 minimum lot width (feet) 36 26 none 20 minimum lot depth (feet) 70 60 none 60”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  MF-10 multifamily residential zone inside Camas city limits (front yard only; not the single-family districts).

  • The side-yard row in the same table carries note 1 and the rear-yard and flanking-street rows carry separate values; these were not recorded.
  • Table notes and the dimensional exceptions in sections 18.09.060 through 18.09.180 were not opened.

  minimum front yard: >= 15 feet (20 feet at garage front)

  “minimum front yard/at garage front (feet) 15/20 10/20 0/20 10/20”

• Living in an RVLimited

  Recreational vehicle parks (RV occupancy as a park use) inside Camas city limits; individual RV occupancy on private lots is not established by this claim.

  • The RV park row in the land-use table carries zone-dependent codes; the legend that defines those codes and the zones it covers were not captured.
  • Temporary RV living on private land outside a park was not addressed in the opened text.

  “recreational vehicle park 6 x x x c x x x p p x x c”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Manufactured home parks inside Camas city limits (park-level standards). Single manufactured homes on individual lots are not addressed by this claim.

  • Park standards in section 18.29.050 apply to manufactured home parks; the use table lists 'manufactured home park' with zone-dependent codes (legend not captured).
  • The use table also lists 'designated manufactured homes' as a residential use; its legend and zone scope were not captured, so single-lot placement is not established.

  minimum lot area: >= 5 acres · minimum lot width: >= 200 feet · minimum lot depth: >= 200 feet · maximum building height: <= 1 story · maximum lot coverage: <= 50 percent

  “table 18.29-1 manufactured home park standards minimum lot area 5 acres minimum lot width 200 feet minimum lot depth 200 feet”

Still unanswered

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

• Building permit — New construction inside Camas city limits.
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permitting inside Camas city limits.
• Building code adopted — Building construction inside Camas city limits.
• Inspections — Construction inspections inside Camas city limits.
• Certificate of occupancy — Occupancy certificates for new homes inside Camas city limits.

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.

Off-grid gear

Going off-grid in Camas means bringing your own water and power. The kit we’d start with:

• Water Crystal Quest Filter any source — well, rain, or creek — to drinking-clean.
• Power Bluetti Solar generators and home battery backup for living off the grid.
• Septic Soil percolation test kit Run your own perc test before paying an engineer — the first thing a septic office asks about.
• Water Well water test kit Bacteria, nitrates, hardness — know what the well on a parcel is really pumping.

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