Morgan County Engineer's Office / Highway Department

Unincorporated Development Permits (Floodplain / Septic / Driveway)

Under the Code of Alabama, §45-52-260, captioned 'Zoning and Planning,' is the sole section of Article 26 of the county's local acts, and its entire text reads only 'Reserved', so the Code provides no county-level zoning ordinance. Under that Code section, with no county zoning or building-permit system to fall back on, a contractor developing land in unincorporated Morgan County instead needs three separate, real permits that the County Engineer's office itself describes as mandatory and 'imposed by State and Federal law,' not optional: a floodplain permit (a floodplain determination must be completed before a sewage disposal permit application), a sewage disposal/septic tank permit issued by the Morgan County Health Department, and a driveway permit for access onto a county road, from the Highway Department or the County Engineer's office. None of the three permit fees themselves is published in any source used for this record. What is published and confirmed is the consequence of skipping them: a flat $300.00 penalty applies if construction begins before all required permits are obtained. This record applies to unincorporated Morgan County; incorporated cities such as Decatur and Hartselle run their own separate municipal building-permit processes, not covered here.