Small Cabin for 1/2 Acre of land.

[Micah]

     Well I don't know where to start so I'll start from the begining. My wife and I have 3 kids 7, 5, and 5 months. We live in Northeastern PA and make next to know money (like most around here). Over the last year we have been looking to buy some acreage with in 50-75 miles of where we are now. Well there isn't anything out there. Best I could find was 3.9 acres next to a major highway for 40K! Well we kept looking. Then we found this... Its only 1/2, but its 20+ miles of back roads from the nearest big town/city. It sits about 1/2 or less from a private, by permit only lake. There are no houses around us. The land is boarded by more wooded private land. So we are kinda in the middle of the woods but we only own a small part of it. It is well with in our price range and with in 80 miles of our main home. So even though its not a secluded as most we are happy to own it.
     
     We are on a very limited budget and only have a small spot of land. Over the next summer we are going to start saving money like crazy so we can start building a SMALL cabin. We would also like to start preparing the land for the building. We are going to use it primarily as a camp ground and setup tents and a big fire pit. Atleast untill the cabin is done and the kids move out. Then my wife and I plan to move out there forever.

Here are a few of my questions.
1. Im not familiar with what zoning is. I was told that the land is zoned L1 or undeveloped/vacant land. I can't find any info on what that means. Anybody?
2. Even though the electric stops at my lot and it would be easy to have it hooked up. We don't what it. We want to go solar/wind since we are on a mountain top. From everything I have read if you get a building permit to build you have to have electric hooked up. Is that true? Could I build with out a permit? I know that if the building is under a certian square foot you don't need one.
3. What is the best way to clean the land where we plan to build. As you will see from the pics Im going to post its pretty wooded and over grown.

Thats about all I have for now. I hope my everthing makes sence. Have a hard time typing out whats in my head.


















ED: inserted image separators - MD

[diyfrank]

Looks like a good spot for a cabin.

I believe undeveloped land is land with no improvements.  well, septic, buildings

I think a phone call to the planning dept. will answer your other questions.

There might be someone on here that has built in that area and knows.

[ScottA]

Since it's only a 1/2 acre you might have an issue with septic. In Oklahoma you can't use septic if you have less than 1 acre and that's only if it perks.  Since there is power to that point most likely someone was already planning to build there at one time and had the power run out. I'd put in a call to the county or planning commision if there is one and ask.

[Terry]

Looks like a great place to build a cabin. Lots of trees, I like that.

We have also set up camp in our little piece of the woods, (motor home, fire pit...etc.) dreaming of the day we can start our cabin.

Good luck

[peteh2833]

Call the local Twp and see if they require building permits and if they have codes. I'm building a camp in Forest County Pa on a 2 acres that already has a small camp on it. The local twp required a small permit called a recreational cabin affidavit. No codes and no inspections. The septic was a different story. As long as I wasn't adding bedrooms to the new place I could use my current septic system with out getting it inspected. I'm eliminating the bedrooms in the old camp so I'm not adding any. Here is a link to my thread. Pete

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3252.0

[MountainDon]

   
Here are a few of my questions.
1. Im not familiar with what zoning is. I was told that the land is zoned L1 or undeveloped/vacant land. I can't find any info on what that means. Anybody?
2. Even though the electric stops at my lot and it would be easy to have it hooked up. We don't what it. We want to go solar/wind since we are on a mountain top. From everything I have read if you get a building permit to build you have to have electric hooked up. Is that true? Could I build with out a permit? I know that if the building is under a certian square foot you don't need one.
3. What is the best way to clean the land where we plan to build. As you will see from the pics Im going to post its pretty wooded and over grown.

Numbers 1 and 2 vary widely depending on local and state governments. The only good answer will come from them.

Number 3. I would take a multiple pass method for cleaning up and thinning the entire piece. As it is it appears to be perfect for wildfire. That's what we did. The first pass was picking up everything on the ground that we deemed should not be there. The second was to thin out all the really small growth we did not want. Then we made a couple more passes taking out more of the next smallest and so on.

You will need a method or place to get rid of this waste as a lot of it will be too small for firewood. We are lucky in that our neighbor has a cleared area we call the burn pit. We've also burned small piles in the winter and early spring when the snow cover is sufficient to prevent the spread of wildfire.

As for the area you want to build on the preferred method, IMO, is to push the trees over with a machine; a dozer or skid steer, heavy tractor. This will help get rid of stumps and many roots. Otherwise you may find them in the way.

[Micah]

It is really a great place. Just small. I have been trying to get a hold of the zoning administrator for a few weeks and he's never in and doesn't respond to his messages!  As for septic I have been looking in to a greywater setup and a composting toilet. We plan on hopefully having a small garden and that would help alot.

@MountainDon: Do I clear all the way down to bare earth or as close as possible? Would the kind of foundation I plan to use effect that? I want to avoid pureing concrete, so Im thinking about useing those cement blocks with the cross notches at the top to slide your 2x6 into. The property has a really slight slant, does that mean I can get away with out puting down lots of stone for drainage?

Sorry for all the question and unfortunatly there will be more! Im on a very limited budget and I need to make sure I have as much information avalibale to me as possible.

[MountainDon]

As for foundation type, scraping dirt and so on, let's start with your location, the severity of the winter...

Foundation type choice may also have a lot to do with whatever rules and regs you have to work within.

Also in your first post you asked about building w/o a permit.    Could be.    Your description makes it seem like you are rather off the beaten track. That's something you have to balance with your conscience, potential pitfalls, etc.

You mentioned power available at the lot line. In some places the power company will say they won't hook you up until there's a building permit; some it does not matter. Solar PV panels and the related equipment can get costly. I'd begin with a serious look at how much power you might use, then double it as a safety factor. Then see how much the equipment will cost for the amount of sunlight available at your site. Next see how much the power company hook up would be.

I'd inquire about having a power pole and meter installed so you can hook your RV up to the power when you go to the property to camp and get away from the city.     If you could get power to the lot cheaply you can use the money that would have been spent on PV panels, etc for the actual cabin. Solar could be added at any later time.

[PA-Builder]

Micah,

As Pete said, you need to go to your Township Supervisor's office and inquire about building & sewage permits.  Unless you declare your cabin as a "recreational cabin", there are building codes in Pennsylvania that you will have to conform with.  You must also contact the Sewage Enforcement Officer (SEO) who is responsible for the township where you are located (the township people can provide SEO contact information).  The SEO will advise you of what type septic system will be authorized; however, on a 1/2 acre lot, that may be a BIG problem.  Here in south-central PA, it would be next to impossible to get a sewage permit for a 1/2 acre lot.  Was any discussion of your desire to build a structure on your land mentioned during the real-estate transfer process ?  Are you in the Pocono region ?

[Micah]

Well my dreams just got shot down! The zoning guy finally called me back and said there is a court order that has prohibited any building on that property or any around it untill the township approves something. This court order is almost 10 years old!!! Good thing is I got all my money back execpt the documentation fees. Anyone know of a good site that buying property that isnt in a gated community? I feel that the was the lords way of saying be patient there are better things out there. So Ill go back in to lurk mode again.

Thanks for all the help.

[peteh2833]

I guess you were looking at buying it and hadn't bought it yet. Thats good. Pete

[PA-Builder]

Micah,
Sorry to hear the outcome of your planned purchase.  I think you will find property will be less expensive if you can consider something further to the west, away from the Pocono region and the infamous gated communities up there.  Remember, you can jump on I-80 west bound and be in north-central PA in a short amount of time, and further away from the "New York" crowd.  Good luck !

[Squirl]

It sounds like you are in the Pocono Region.  You should look around for 1 acre lots.  They give these away in some developments up there.  It is the get rich quick scheme of the Poconos.  Developers buy a parcel and subdivide it.  The problem is that people won't move there until other people live there.  So they give away the first few lots to people that intend to build.  This increases the property value of the other lots.

[Micah]

After talking to some of the people in the area Im GLAD we didn't get the spot. They didn't like the idea of more people moving in to there little slice of heaven! The zoning administrator said that it is his personal belief that these people are causing the trouble to keep people from building. I wasn't looking for a gated community anyway. Just the thought of an H.O.A makes my skin crawl. Thats when I took PA-Builder's advice and broadened my search from 75 mile radius to 150. And there it was 4.5 acres in Dalton, NY! 15 miles from Letchworth State Park (the grand canyon of the east). 2 hours from Niagara Falls. Minutes away from 14,000 acres of state forest. And most importantly views to die for.  I will be opening a new thread with pictures and lots more questions! 

Micah

[Squirl]

I had the same problem.  I was looking in a lot of the same areas in PA as you.  The prices were outrageous and it seemed like everything under 100 acres was .5-1 acre lot.  The push of NY city residents for pocono homes pushed that area into a get rich quick subdivision haven.  It seemed to me as soon as you cross the NY/PA border the prices dropped $1000 per acre.  I went east towards the catskills to avoid the massive amounts of snow.  Going west the prices drop even further.

[Micah]

I went west. For some reason I like the snow!  Beside I have this vision of my wife and I being snowed in and cuddleing up next to the fire. Im kind of a romantic at heart. Plus I like the peacefulness that snow brings with it. 

[Sassy]

  
Looking forward to seeing pix of your land & the building process - congratulations on getting the land 

[PA-Builder]

Glad it worked out Micah . . . keep us posted !

[Micah]

New thread started http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=6089.0

Thanks
Micah