I assumed that I could build whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted in my forest.

I was very mistaken.

After meeting with my builder in the woods, we settled on a site for my storage building just inside the gated entrance. In signing the contract, I noticed that I was responsible for obtaining the building permit. An easy task, he told me: “Just go to the County Office and fill out a form. They’ll probably charge you a few dollars, but you do need a building permit.”

Fair enough.

I drove directly to the County Office and was told to see the County Zoning Commissioner, and his office was a half block away. I found his office, and it was empty. The person in the next office told me that the County Zoning Commissioner was only there from 9-11, and it was after noon. I vowed to return the next day. But in the meantime, I went back to the County Office and purchased ($3) the 100 page document called the “Zoning Ordinance.”

The Zoning Ordinance was a list of rules about who could do what in the county, including my forest. Although mostly incomprehensible, I did understand that I needed a building permit. I also understood that the building needed a 50 foot “setback”. This means that the building can’t be any closer than 50 feet from the property line. I wasn’t too worried about that because the site I had picked out seemed much more than 50 feet from the property line.

The next morning, at 9:05, I appeared in the Zoning Commissioner’s office. He was very pleasant, and enlightening. He asked many questions about the building and its’ features (plumbing, size, who was the builder, etc.) Yes, I needed a building permit (easily done), and of all the rules in the Zoning Ordinance, the only one that really mattered for me was the setback rule. He explained that the building couldn’t be any closer than 75 feet to the middle of the road.

“It’s really not much of a road.”

“Doesn’t matter. The right of way of the road extends 25 feet from the centerline, and then there’s a 50 foot setback. 75 feet total.”

I decided it would be prudent to purchase a long tape measure and return to the woods. That was smart, as it turned out, because my visual estimate of the distance was way off (actually not even close).

The original building site was too close to the road, and would violate the Zoning Ordinance. I would have to clear more forest (a little bit) to move the building site far enough away from the road to pass the 75 foot rule.

I called my Forest Mulcher Guy.