A visit to the county planner

Here it's called the Community Development Services: the portion of county bureaucracy that decides who can build what, where, and how.

I went to visit the Planner of the Day, who has open office hours so you can just drop in with questions.

I told them the tax ID, and they looked it up on the computer. They looked for sensitive wetlands, bald eagle nests, and landslide-prone areas. Nothing came up, so they said it should be OK.

The county health department has its offices right next door (I didn't even have to go outside), and they gave me a copy of the septic permits.

I wish I didn't have to build a septic system at all, using composting toilets and graywater to an orchard instead, but the rules don't allow that, so...

I do want to clear to the south for sun to the house and garden, and a drain field has to stay clear of anything with deep roots. Grasses & wildflowers are OK.

If I'm reading the design correctly, there's a space designated for a drain field, and then a second space for a replacement drain field if the first one fails (because it fills with roots, for example).

Maybe I can build in the designed "reserve" on the bottom-right, thereby letting the south-east sun in at the same time.