Door County, WI

[MMMOTORCYCLE]

I am looking for some help with zoning. I hoped to build a 20x30 1.5 story on Washington Island. My plan was a composting toilet and a grey water system...only to find out a septic was required before a building permit would be issued. Anyone have experience with variances for septic systems in this neck of the woods? Im being told from the locals I can expect the septic to run $12-$15k The composting toilet and grey water would be less than $2k.

Thanks
Mike

[JavaMan]

I have to admit, the minute I saw "Door County, WI" I chuckled.  The thought that ran through my head was, "Good luck getting a permit to build anything up there" ...

I used to live in WI (10 years), and knew people that lived in Door County.  Such a great tourist area (Pot Park - actually Potowatamie, which I may have misspelled), and beautiful, but it seems to be governed by people that tend to be a bit set in their ways.

Now, I know this post isn't very helpful, but I'm simply relating my own experiences - all of which are over 20 years old.  And since that was 20 years ago, even tho it was only "hearsay", I can only imagine that it's become worse.

What help I can give is to simply say that to some extent we're in the same boat.  Technically, the county I want to build in requires a septic before a permit is issued, if it's for a regular home.  They have something called a 60 day occupancy permit, that allows you to build a cabin (without pressure water, without permanent heat, without toilet facilities).  I think with sufficient lobbying you can get a composting toilet permitted, but you still need a gray water "septic" - basically, the same thing as a septic system to the county, so it's a bit redundant.  I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it.

Good luck, and let us know how it's going... I have a feeling that there are many that have similar situations and would like to know how you approached the situation and resolved it (if you manage to)