Building permits, zoning and land rules in Morgan County, West Virginia

Yes. The Morgan County Planning Commission issues residential and commercial building permits, and the county's application process uses an Improvement Location Permit^1,3. Before issuance, submit the application plus applicable septic and well permits, utility hookup letters, plans and a site sketch showing the driveway, septic system, well and existing structures³. The residential, recreational, modular, prefab and mobile-home fee is $0.20 per square foot plus a $100 base fee; the minimum is $25, and starting covered work before approval doubles the fee³. Inside the towns of Bath and Paw Paw, the town's own permitting regulations apply instead¹. West Virginia's State Building Code applies only in counties and towns that adopt it, and we could not confirm that Morgan County has adopted it, so ask the Planning Commission which code and inspections apply to the project^1,7. The state fire-code certificate-of-occupancy rule does not cover buildings used wholly as dwellings for no more than two families, and the county's own certificate-of-occupancy process could not be confirmed^1,8.

The Morgan County Planning Commission issues residential and commercial permits and administers county development ordinances¹. The office is at 77 Fairfax Street, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411, and its phone number is 304-867-3133¹. The Planning Commission also handles floodplain administration, making it the first call for an Improvement Location Permit and parcel-specific flood review¹. Submit the county application with the listed supporting approvals and plans; an owner doing the work signs the Legislative Rules Form provided by the Planning Commission, while a hired builder supplies a West Virginia contractor license³. The published schedule sets a $25 minimum permit fee and a $10 expired-permit renewal fee³. Routine inspection stages and any certificate-of-occupancy process could not be confirmed, so request those instructions from the Planning Commission¹.

Unincorporated Morgan County does not have a zoning ordinance, but a parcel is not automatically unrestricted or ready to build¹. The Planning Commission reviews subdivision activity under exempt, preliminary, final and low-impact processes². Morgan County's preliminary subdivision checklist shows single-family setbacks of 20 feet in front, 10 feet at the side and 20 feet at the rear, but those measurements should not be treated as universal countywide zoning setbacks⁹. No countywide minimum lot size, lot-coverage cap or building-height limit could be confirmed. The county's lack of zoning does not tell you the status of town zoning: Bath and Paw Paw apply their own permitting regulations, and we could not confirm whether either town has a current zoning ordinance¹. Ask the Planning Commission which subdivision process and dimensional standards govern the parcel before relying on a listing or survey¹.

The local health department issues the septic approval used in Morgan County's building-permit process³. Its Morgan County office is at 137 War Memorial Drive, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411, and the phone number is 304-258-1513¹⁰. When an onsite system applies, obtain the approved septic permit before the Improvement Location Permit; moving the approved septic location requires a new permit, and the septic permit must be renewed annually until installation³. Septic feasibility deserves an early contingency because only 1.4% of mapped county soils rate free of severe limitations for a conventional drain field⁶. That countywide soil figure does not decide an individual site, so arrange the health department's evaluation before fixing the house location^6,10. Morgan County's septic inspection timing and off-grid sanitation alternatives could not be confirmed; ask Environmental Health before choosing a system¹⁰.

Morgan County's private-land rules for long-term RV occupancy, temporary camping and tiny-home occupancy could not be confirmed. The absence of a zoning ordinance does not establish permission to occupy an RV or tiny home because the Improvement Location Permit, septic and floodplain processes may still apply^1,3. Ask the Planning Commission how the proposed unit is classified and whether the intended occupancy is allowed on the parcel¹. Ask the Berkeley-Morgan County Health Department what sewage approval is required before occupancy^3,10. Manufactured and other HUD-compliant factory-built homes are accepted statewide, subject to applicable local land-use procedures and flood-zone requirements¹¹. No Morgan County minimum dwelling size or accessory-dwelling rule could be confirmed, so obtain a parcel-specific answer before purchase¹.

1. Ask the Morgan County Planning Commission to confirm jurisdiction, subdivision status, floodplain conditions and the Improvement Location Permit path; Bath and Paw Paw use their own permitting regulations^1,3.

1. Obtain the local health department's septic and private-well permits when those systems apply^3,4,10.

1. Secure any applicable public-water or sewer hookup letter and highway-entrance approval; a driveway onto a state highway needs a West Virginia Division of Highways permit, which is free from any Division office^1,3,12.

1. Prepare the application, plans and site sketch showing the driveway, septic system, well and existing structures; provide a contractor license or sign the owner-work form³.

1. Submit the package and pay the published fee before work starts, because beginning covered work early doubles the fee³.

1. If the property is within or near the 100-year floodplain, complete the additional county requirements before development³.

1. If disturbance reaches one acre or belongs to a larger common plan, obtain state construction-stormwater coverage electronically¹³.

Start with a Planning Commission parcel review for the permit path, subdivision status, preliminary-plat setbacks and floodplain conditions^1,3,9. Make septic feasibility a contract contingency because only 1.4% of mapped Morgan County soils rate free of severe limitations for a conventional drain field⁶. Confirm the water plan: a private well needs health-department approval when applicable, while public service may require a hookup letter^3,4. Confirm legal access and road jurisdiction because access onto a public highway needs highway approval⁹. Morgan County is 86% wooded, while 35.3% of its land has a slope of 15% or less, so inspect the actual building pad⁶. The median property-tax bill is about $1,145 per year and the effective rate is about 0.5%, though the parcel's assessment controls⁶.