City Hall (269) 857-2603

ApplyPlanning and Zoning

Zoning and Building Permits

Zoning permits and the Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Historic District Commission reviews are handled at City Hall; building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits and inspections are handled by Michigan Township Services.

Zoning
City Hall, (269) 237-1823
Building
Michigan Township Services, (269) 673-3239
Zoning permit
$125 to $500
Fence or sign permit
$75

Zoning Permits and Building Permits

Zoning at City Hall

Under the direct supervision of the City Manager, the Zoning Administrator administers the city’s zoning/planning/Historic District Commission (HDC) processes, investigates complaints and takes enforcement action.

Grayson Moore, Director of Planning and Zoning, (269) 237-1823

Building at Michigan Township Services

Michigan Township Services was formed in 1979 as a public service company designed to supply municipal governments in western Michigan with trained, State certified, professional building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspectors and permit administration on an as-needed basis, paid exclusively by permit fees.

111 Grand Street, Allegan; Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.; (269) 673-3239 or (800) 626-5964

Projects That Go to a Board

Planning Commission

The City of Saugatuck Planning Commission is a 7 member commission empowered by City Council and is given the authority to establish procedures, standards and administrative rules whereby applicants are required to submit for review and approval a site development plan.

Saugatuck Planning Commission meetings are held at Saugatuck City Hall, 102 Butler Street, Saugatuck, MI 49453 at 6:30 p.m. on the 3rd Thursday of each month unless otherwise noted.

Site plan review $750; special land use, text amendment, or rezoning $1,000; escrow $2,000

Zoning Board of Appeals

They receive, review and decide on applications for variances, or relief from specific sections of the zoning ordinance. The ZBA is created to provide residents a forum at which they can appeal issues arising from interpretations of the City's zoning ordinance.

Saugatuck Zoning Board of Appeals meetings are held at Saugatuck City Hall, 102 Butler Street, Saugatuck, MI 49453 at 6:30 p.m. on the 2nd Thursday of each month unless otherwise noted.

Variance, appeal, or interpretation $850; escrow $2,000

Historic District Commission

The Saugatuck Historic District Commission is a municipal commission responsible for reviewing proposed work to the exterior of resources (typically buildings) in the City's Historic District to determine if the work meets the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitation.

Saugatuck Historic District Commission meetings are held at Saugatuck City Hall, 102 Butler Street, Saugatuck, MI 49453 at 6:00 p.m. on the 1st Thursday of each month unless otherwise noted.

Commission review $250; administrative review $50

Other City Permits

Signs, tree removal, work in the public right-of-way, waterfront construction, and dividing or adjusting a lot each have their own application, filed at City Hall.

Every fee in the Schedule of Fees

The Zoning Map

The zoning map shows which district each parcel is in, and so which rules apply to it, including where short-term rental licenses are capped.

The City's zoning map, as amended through January 9, 2024, coloring each zoning district from the Lake Michigan dunes to Kalamazoo Lake and outlining the historic district around downtown, with Saugatuck Township to the north and the City of the Village of Douglas to the south; its legend names each district, from Community Residential R-1 to Water Street South C-2.
The zoning districts, as amended through January 9, 2024 Zoning map, last updated February 2024 PDF, 1.5 MB

Floodplain Questions

Where can I get answers to floodplain questions?
For more information, please contact the City Zoning Administrator at Saugatuck City Hall, (269) 857-2603.
What is a floodplain?
A floodplain is an area adjacent to a river, lake or stream that will be inundated by water when a flood occurs. Every river, lake or stream has a floodplain associated with it.
What is the floodway?
It is the area of the floodplain that should be reserved (kept free of obstructions) to allow floodwaters to move downstream. Placing fill or buildings in a floodway may block the flow of water and increase flood heights. Because of this, your community will require that you submit engineering analyses before it approves permits for development in the floodway.
What is a 100-year flood?
The term "100-year flood" is often incorrectly used and can be misleading. It does not mean that only one flood of that size will occur every 100 years. The term is a statement of probability that scientists and engineers use to describe how one flood compares to others that are likely to occur. Today, we use the phrase "1-percent annual chance flood." What it means is that there is a 1-percent chance of a flood of that size happening in any year. Over a 100-year period, it has a 63.5-percent chance of occurring. Even more surprising is that over a 30-year period (typical mortgage period), the 1-percent annual chance flood has a 26-percent chance of occurring. This means a home in the mapped flood hazard area is five times more likely to be damaged by flood than to have a major fire.
What is a 100-year floodplain?
The area that will be inundated by the 100-year flood. It is also the area that is referred to by FEMA as the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). It is the area of a community where development must be regulated through a local ordinance conforming to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
The City's flood plain map. Zone A, shaded pink, covers the Lake Michigan shoreline, the Kalamazoo River along Water Street, Kalamazoo Lake out to Blue Star Highway, and the creek valley running northeast past Simonson Street; a few small patches of Zone B, in orange, sit at its edges, the largest near Holland Street.
Flood Zones A and B, as the 1980 federal flood insurance map drew them