Since 2008 the Village of Lake Isabella has been working with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Central Michigan District Health Department (CMDHD), and Isabella County Board of Public Works (BPW) to resolve the problem of what is locally known as “unbuildable lots.” Through this collaborative effort, these four organizations have been able to successfully address the unbuildable lots issue in three of those five plats.
Lake Isabella Airpark: Restrictions fully lifted in 2009.
Canterbury Estates: Restrictions fully lifted in 2009.
Lake Isabella North: In 2013 the various stakeholders entered into an agreement to lift the restrictions for this plat. In the event that an individual location does not meet the requirements to obtain a permit for an on-site septic system the property owner then becomes eligible to enter into a lot-swapping agreement with the Village for suitable property elsewhere in the plat. That process is detailed in this flow chart which outlines the steps followed.
Lake Isabella South & Lake Isabella Golf Estates 2: In January of 2018 the Village of Lake Isabella recorded an agreement approved by the the Isabella County Board of Public Works (BPW), Central Michigan District Health Department (CMDHD), and the Michigan Department of Environment Quality (MDEQ) to lift the long-standing restrictions on the development of on-site well and wastewater systems in southern Lake Isabella plats of Lake Isabella South and Lake Isabella Golf Estates #2. This Agreement not only lifts the restrictions which prohibited development based solely on the total number of permits in the plat, but also created a clear guide for future systems to use modern technology and pre-treatment methods of their on-site wastewater. That document is knowns as the Baseline Septic System Criteria.
*** Baseline Septic System Criteria Development Process Flow Chart ***