Building permits, zoning and land rules in Price County, Wisconsin

Yes, and for a new house it is two permits. Unincorporated Price County requires a land-use permit application and plot plan for a new dwelling, submitted with the property's 911 uniform number, a driveway access permit and the sanitary permit¹; the sanitary permit must be obtained before the land-use permit can be released¹. A separate Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code building permit is also required for new one- and two-family dwellings, including stick-built, modular and manufactured homes^1,8. Construction starts only after the plans are approved and the permit is issued and posted⁶.

The county land-use permit fee for a new dwelling is $0.22 per square foot with a $100 minimum, and the county publishes separate lower fees for additions and accessory buildings¹. A permit applied for after the work is done costs double the fee⁹. The county's building guide notes that township, state and federal permits may also be required¹. Agricultural buildings have a county land-use-permit exemption only in the circumstances described by the county, and exempt structures still must meet dimensional and setback requirements¹. That exemption does not cover every state, town, sanitary or access approval.

Land-use permits and sanitary permits come from Price County Zoning & Land Conservation at the Normal / Annex Building in Phillips; the office also tells applicants which other approvals a project needs⁴. The county verifies setback distances when it reviews the plot plan⁹. Building permits are a different track: Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code applications go to the responsible municipality or its authorized inspection agency, and a certified UDC inspector reviews the submission¹⁰. Ask the Zoning Office to identify the UDC inspector for the parcel⁴.

In the five towns that zone their own non-shoreland land, the town sets zoning, but sanitary permits still go through the county Zoning Department^3,4. Permit fees for the UDC building permit vary by enforcing municipality or inspection contract, while the statewide rules include a permit-seal charge for each new dwelling¹⁰. Inspections are required before covered phases are concealed, following the local inspector's instructions⁶. The required inspections on a new one- or two-family dwelling are footings, foundation and reinforcement, rough work, insulation and final, and the applicant notifies the inspector named on the UDC permit when each is ready⁸.

Yes, but the parcel location matters. County zoning governs unincorporated Price County except non-shoreland land in the Towns of Kennan, Catawba, Georgetown, Ogema and Hill; buyers in those exceptions should contact the town chairman about local zoning⁴. Shoreland zoning separately reaches land within 1,000 feet of a lake or flowage and within 300 feet of a river, creek or stream⁴.

Price County publishes zoning districts (RR-1, RF-1, A-1, CI-1 and C-1) with district-specific setbacks¹. The county's principal-building setback is 10 feet in RR-1, RF-1 and C-1, 20 feet in A-1 and 15 feet in CI-1, and accessory buildings need 5 feet in most of those districts and 10 feet in A-1¹. Lots subject to county rules need 20,000 square feet and 100 feet of frontage when they abut water, 10,000 square feet in a sanitary district and 1 acre otherwise¹. Newly created lots also need 40 feet of public-road frontage or a recorded 66-foot-wide easement¹. We could not confirm a countywide minimum dwelling size; the one size rule we found is in RR-1, where a HUD-code mobile home over 320 square feet counts as the equivalent of a one-family dwelling¹¹. Ask the Zoning Department about the specific district and design⁴.

Septic permits are a county function everywhere in Price County, including the five towns that zone themselves: apply for the sanitary permit through the Price County Zoning Department³. A sanitary permit is required before issuance of any new dwelling permit². The county describes a state sanitary permit or a qualifying privy permit as the available paths for meeting a new dwelling's sanitary requirement². For a dwelling without pressurized water, Price County allows a privy under conditions: an open-pit privy requires a soil boring and agreement, while a vaulted privy still requires the agreement and is the only privy type identified for shoreland areas².

Site conditions deserve early attention because the soil dataset rates 0% of county soils as free of severe limits for a conventional drain field¹². That screening statistic does not decide an individual site, but it makes a soil evaluation especially important before purchase. Wisconsin also requires private wastewater systems to receive a visual inspection at least once every 3 years¹³.

On parcels subject to Price County zoning, an RV may stay on a parcel for up to 4 months in a calendar year without a permit only when the site has a 911 number and sanitary system; a longer stay requires a land-use permit for a new dwelling¹. The county treats a mobile home under 32 feet as an RV for this rule¹.

A mobile home longer than 32 feet needs land-use and sanitary permits to qualify as habitable, and older mobile homes face an additional restriction in Recreational-Residential districts¹. We could not confirm an express tiny-home occupancy rule or a general minimum home size. Ask Price County Zoning & Land Conservation how the proposed structure, foundation, utilities and parcel district affect its classification before buying or placing it⁴. In one of the five non-shoreland town exceptions, also ask the town chairman about local zoning⁴.

1. Confirm the parcel's zoning district, shoreland status, floodplain status and required setbacks with Price County Zoning & Land Conservation, and find out whether the parcel sits in one of the five towns that zone their own non-shoreland land⁴.
2. Confirm legal access. A town-road driveway goes through the town, a county-highway driveway goes through the Price County Highway Department, and a state-highway connection needs WisDOT approval^1,14.
3. Complete the soil work and obtain the sanitary permit from the Price County Zoning Department; it must come before the county land-use permit and the new-dwelling permit^1,2,3.
4. Obtain advance Wisconsin DNR notification before constructing a typical new private well⁷.
5. Submit the county land-use permit application and plot plan to the Zoning Department, then the UDC building permit application, plans and fees to the responsible inspection authority^1,10.
6. Begin only after approval and permit posting, then call for inspections before covering each construction phase⁶.

Start with the zoning map, parcel district and water proximity because shoreland coverage and the five town exceptions can change who answers the land-use question⁴. Verify the lot meets the applicable area, frontage and access rules before treating it as buildable¹. If you plan to divide the land, a county land division carries its own fees and review, and a new lot cannot be longer than four times its width unless the Land Use and UW Extension Committee waives the ratio^9,15. For county-highway frontage, contact the Highway Department about driveway placement; state-highway access instead requires a WisDOT connection permit^14,16.

Order septic feasibility work early: the countywide soil screening shows severe conventional-drain-field limitations across the mapped soils, while the permit decision remains site-specific¹². Check mapped floodplain conditions: Price County's floodplain ordinance requires a floodplain development permit in mapped flood-hazard areas, and failing to obtain one is a violation⁵. Wisconsin also limits development in floodways and imposes elevation and access conditions in floodfringe areas¹⁷. Budget property carrying costs using the county's 1.4% effective property-tax rate and $2,110 median annual tax bill as broad benchmarks, not a parcel quote¹².