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

Unincorporated Wetzel County requires a floodplain development permit or certificate of compliance from the Floodplain Manager before development, new construction, substantial improvement, substantial-damage repair, or placement or relocation of a structure, including a manufactured home, in a floodplain¹. The floodplain ordinance also sets minimum construction standards in those areas¹. Land partly or wholly in a floodplain needs an approved site plan with elevation data before development or subdivision¹. A general county building permit outside floodplains could not be confirmed, so ask Wetzel County OEM/E-911 before starting work¹¹. Like most counties around it in West Virginia, Wetzel County requires a county building permit only in some cases¹. West Virginia's State Building Code applies only where a county or municipality adopts it, and we could not confirm that Wetzel County has¹². State fire inspections cover applicable occupancies but exclude one- and two-family dwellings¹³. Buildings used primarily for agriculture are exempt from the state building and fire codes, but a claimant must ask the Commissioner of Agriculture for an eligibility determination, and floodplain and septic rules still apply^1,8,14.

In unincorporated Wetzel County, Wetzel County OEM/E-911 is the Floodplain Manager's office and handles floodplain development permits and 911 addressing^1,11. Reach it at 304-455-6960 or wce911@frontier.com; the mailing address is PO Box 156, New Martinsville, WV 26155¹¹. A separate county building department for ordinary construction could not be confirmed, so ask this office first¹¹. Inside New Martinsville, the city issues its own building permits for structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical work, and small maintenance jobs may not need one³. Septic and well permits for every address in Wetzel County, city or not, come from the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department^5,6. West Virginia's Public Health Sanitation Division has primacy over listed onsite system types, while the local health department takes permit applications^5,15.

Countywide zoning in Wetzel County could not be confirmed. The county's published ordinance list shows a floodplain ordinance but no zoning ordinance, which does not by itself prove that every unincorporated parcel is unzoned⁷. West Virginia lets a county zone all or only part of its jurisdiction, and municipalities may zone inside their limits². New Martinsville has no zoning ordinance, although its setbacks for new structures still apply: 5 feet from the side property line and 25 feet at the front^3,4. Paden City describes enforcing its own zoning regulations¹⁶. Minimum lot size, setbacks and building height for unincorporated land could not be confirmed, so ask Wetzel County OEM/E-911 or the County Commission before designing a project¹¹. Subdivision in a floodplain still requires an approved site plan with elevation data¹.

A written septic permit is required before installing a new system or modifying an existing one in Wetzel County^8,17. The Wetzel-Tyler Health Department handles local sewage-system and well permit applications under the statewide sewage rule, while West Virginia's Public Health Sanitation Division has primacy over listed onsite system types^5,15,18. The published total is $252 for a conventional single-family system and $480 for other system types, including the $30 DEP fee¹⁹. The local health rule separately lists base sewage-system fees of $222 for a conventional single-family dwelling and $450 for other systems⁵. The system cannot be used until its installation has written approval¹⁷. A local health department permit is required before drilling, modifying, or abandoning a well⁶. The local fee schedule lists $150 for a new or repaired well permit⁵. Only about 0.2% of county soils lack severe limits for a conventional drain field, so allow for site evaluation and a possible alternative design²⁰.

Wetzel County's published materials do not confirm whether long-term RV living, tiny-home occupancy, or temporary camping is allowed on private land, so ask Wetzel County OEM/E-911 and the County Commission before relying on those uses¹¹. A state rule about camping on public grounds requires written permission from the responsible government; it does not answer whether temporary camping is allowed on private land²¹. A manufactured or modular home using a new surface-discharge sewage system with design flow below 600 gallons per day requires an application at least 30 days before system construction and a permit before the home is constructed or placed²². Placing a manufactured home in a floodplain also requires a floodplain development permit and may require an approved site plan with elevation data¹. An owner personally performing construction on owned or leased property is excluded from the floodplain ordinance's contractor definition, but that exclusion does not waive a required floodplain development permit¹.

1. Ask Wetzel County OEM/E-911 whether the site is in a floodplain and whether any separate county building-permit process applies; inside New Martinsville, apply to the city instead^3,11.
2. Before covered floodplain work, obtain the floodplain development permit or certificate of compliance; submit a site plan with elevation data when required¹.
3. Apply to the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department before installing or modifying a septic system^5,23.
4. Obtain the local health department permit before drilling, modifying, or abandoning a well⁶.
5. Confirm zoning approval, setbacks, subdivision rules, RV use, tiny-home occupancy, and any municipal building permit before finalizing the site plan^2,11.
6. Obtain a free Division of Highways driveway permit before constructing an approach onto a state highway²⁴.

Soils and slope: only about 0.2% of Wetzel County soils lack severe limits for a conventional septic drain field, and just 9.6% of the land has a slope of 15% or less, so price site evaluation and access work before closing²⁰. Flood: determine whether any part of the building area lies in a floodplain because covered development requires a floodplain development permit and may require elevation data¹. Access: a driveway onto a state highway needs a free Division of Highways driveway permit; a shared driveway that meets the county ordinance's criteria (which the county's page does not spell out) is named and its homes are addressed from the new road^24,25. Disturbance: a project disturbing an acre or more needs a WVDEP construction stormwater permit before work starts²⁶. Taxes: Wetzel County's effective property tax rate is about 0.6%, and the median annual bill is about $664²⁰.