Rural Building permits (Childress, Crosby: homeowners insurance, how much, selling a house)

[bman15470]

Ok, so if a person wants to buy say 50 acres in a rural county like say Crosby or Childress or Garza county and build a house on it what are the restrictions/requirements and such. Do the the individual county's issue building permits? What about drilling a well, putting in septic systems, cutting a access road thru the property? Are there land use restrictions? Who decides these things? If I see a property listed of say 50 acres is there some listing codes to tell me if I can build on it or is it up to the county commissioner? Is there some guidelines I should know if I look in these county's or similar rural No. Texas county's for property to raise some cattle and build a home and shop on? Thanks Bman

[loves2read]

normally there is nothing to keep you from building on land that you buy--unless there might be restrictions in place in certain areas--like not too close to an oil/gas well location or tank battery.

In my area of DFW, unencorporated land (under a county vs city regulation) does fall to the county building code--which is usually more lax or with fewer standards--than a city's code...but in DFW where I live there is variety among city codes as well with some cities know for being more strict with code/inspection than others...and some are stricter in different areas--like cutting down/replanting trees in one vs plumbing/electrical code, amount of poured concrete for foundation in % to lot size...
you have to apply for permits to build and have inspections at stages of construction but maybe not as many as a city would require--that is not necessarily BETTER--since you could wind up with neighbors that actually run down the value of your property--

like if you bought property, built a nice house/shop, and then had someone put in a feed lot on the land next door that would give your 24/7 bad smell...
happened where my mom and dad lived--not to them but to friends of theirs--
try selling a house when anyone who comes to visit gets strong odor of manure whenever they are outside or have the windows up...sometimes it was just impossible to BE outside which makes taking care of your garden or playing with your dog or grandkids a real problem...

normally there would be nothing to keep you from cutting any number of access roads across your property--of course you know that will be very expensive to do if you plan on putting any type of surface on those roads--BUT to acess another county road you would have to have a permit in place I believe...

as far as septic systems--that is regulated-- maybe by TX Water Board if you are in rural areas maybe by county--and regulations would be designed to prevent contamination of YOUR personal water source and others that your septic system might endanger...like underground water shed, other local water sources--has to do with the nature of the soil, elevation, water tables...some areas do not percolate waste as fast as others--depends on how many people might be using the system...


check with the realtor listing the property--that is usually the best way to find out about the building standards for the area...

and hope you are using a realtor to help you buy--when you are buying in rural areas it is even MORE important to have a locally knowledgeable realtor to give you insight and information...

[bman15470]

Thanks Love, that sounds good. I could droan on for hours about my experience building on property in OR. When I built here 7 yrs ago I did all the work my self from cutting a drivway to hanging the light fixts. The single biggest project/hurdle/headache/time consumption was the sand filter septic system. I saved my self about 10K doing it my self and still spent 1K's jsut to get it built. I just hate being told where to stand and how to hold my tongue when it comes to my own property. Grrrr-bman

[car957]

Well, the flip side is your neighbors don't want to taste your urine or fecal matter in their water well if you don't design or construct the waste disposal system correctly and we don't want to die because you choose to make chemicals in your home. That's part of the reason codes and standards are adopted - to protect the health and safety of the public.

Construction of one- and two-family dwellings in Texas is regulated by TRCC - however, if Gubnor Perry signs the sunset bill, you'll be free to build your house anyway you want after January, 2010. Commercial construction is generally only regulated in counties with a population of more than 250,000.

As to sewer and septic systems, these are generally regulated by the County Health Department, and LovesRoses is correct: Texas law requires that the design and construction of these systems meet the County's construction code and Texas plumbing laws.

[bman15470]

I’ve got no problem with any of that, its reasonable, sensible. But what frustrates the crap out of me is this draconian attitude by local authorities to regulate every detail of your life. The DEQ is full of jerks that worship the earth and act as though people are an evasive species. If you want a septic system in western OR and you don’t have 450' linear feet of pristine ground for leach lines and another 450' of replacement ground you are stuck with an Orenco advantex system. It’s only about 18K. Plus you have to have the system supervised via phone modem in case both the pump systems fail. I mean come on, we had std septic systems with 75' of leach lines that lasted for DECADES. And who in their right mind would knowingly and willingly contaminate their own water and living area? I can take care of my self just fine if only state and fed bureaucracies would get the he!! out of my way. We need a document, something like a constitution and bill of rights to insure our freedoms and limit the wacko's, if only it were possible we might truly be free! wink bman

[HappyTexan]

Call the county if you are in an unincorporated area. You may still need permits.
I had to get them when I built my home in Travis county outside any city limits.

[BeVeryWise]

I feel your pain. The problem is that most people want these "authorities" to regulate every detail of their lives.

Originally Posted by bman15470

I’ve got no problem with any of that, its reasonable, sensible. But what frustrates the crap out of me is this draconian attitude by local authorities to regulate every detail of your life. The DEQ is full of jerks that worship the earth and act as though people are an evasive species. If you want a septic system in western OR and you don’t have 450' linear feet of pristine ground for leach lines and another 450' of replacement ground you are stuck with an Orenco advantex system. It’s only about 18K. Plus you have to have the system supervised via phone modem in case both the pump systems fail. I mean come on, we had std septic systems with 75' of leach lines that lasted for DECADES. And who in their right mind would knowingly and willingly contaminate their own water and living area? I can take care of my self just fine if only state and fed bureaucracies would get the he!! out of my way. We need a document, something like a constitution and bill of rights to insure our freedoms and limit the wacko's, if only it were possible we might truly be free! wink bman

[texasdreamin]

Check with your County's assessor's office to obtain the zoning for the land. If it is zoned agricultural, that means that you can only grow things on it. You have to find out from the County what they will allow you to do with the land. As far as septics, you have to obtain a permit for that. They have to be inspected. Also, I would think that you would need to get all appropriate permits to build a residence on your land, so that it can be inspected for safety. They need to make sure that what you build is not going to come crashing down on anybody. I don't know how it is in Texas, but where I live, if you build a home or an attachment to your home, without permits, you are not going to be able to get homeowners insurance.

[bman15470]

TXdreamin, your telling me what I need to do and what I need to have and then you tell me that you dont know how it is in TX and that you dont live there? Whats up with that? I was asking about TX, not where you live where ever that is.

[CptnRn]

No one can give you a specific answer to your broad question, because it varies from location to location, not every county has the same requirements. The more isolated and rural an area is, the fewer regulation you will usually encounter. If you are within 5 miles of a City you could be subject to their Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) even though you are outside of the city limits. Being in an ETJ can impose additional restrictions on what you can build. The state also has laws that could limit what you do to a water course on your property, how much water you can capture, etc.

You seem to view these requirements as intrusions into your life. Preventing you from doing what you want with your own property. But you have also admitted that you now plan to sell and leave behind the construction that you built in OR 7 years ago. So any shortcuts that you took while reducing the cost of that septic system from a 10K project to the 1K that you built, will end up becoming a burden for someone else to deal with.

It is in everyone's long term best interest to make sure these kinds of things are built properly.