Vacant Land Evaluations

A vacant land evaluation is used to determine the suitability of an individual building site for construction of an on-site sewage disposal system.  After receiving the required application and fee, a sanitarian from the health department will conduct a site visit to determine suitability for an on-site sewage disposal system.  If the site is found to be acceptable, an approval letter will be issued describing the site conditions, including soils and seasonal high water table information observed during the evaluation, as well as the general sewage disposal system construction requirements related to those conditions.

If the site is not acceptable for sewage disposal system construction, the evaluation letter will describe the condition(s) for which the site cannot be approved.

It is important to note that an approval letter is not a permit to construct a sewage disposal system and a permit must be obtained prior to any system construction.  Although evaluation letters do not have a specific expiration period, the results indicate the site conditions at the time of the evaluation. Any subsequent on-site improvements, development of neighboring properties, or changes in sanitary code requirements may affect the results of the initial evaluation findings.

Vacant land evaluations are most useful in determining whether a site is approved for the construction of an on-site sewage disposal system when a site will not be developed for some time and a sewage disposal system construction permit would expire prior to site development.