Does rural land in Alabama have zoning?

Some does and some doesn't. In Shelby County the county zoning ordinance applies only in the beats whose voters accepted the planning commission's authority, and never inside a city. Inside city limits, the city's own zoning applies. Ask the planning office which one covers your parcel number.

What does "unrestricted" mean in a land listing?

It usually means the seller believes no zoning or recorded covenants limit the land. Treat it as the seller's summary. Check the zoning map with the city or county and read the deed and plat at the probate office before you rely on it.

Can I put a manufactured home on land in Shelby County?

It depends on the zoning district and on any covenants. Shelby County's A-1 Agricultural district lists mobile homes, which the ordinance defines as manufactured homes built before June 15, 1976, among permitted dwellings, and its E-1 estate district does not. Ask the planning office how a newer unit is classed. Recorded covenants can forbid manufactured homes even where zoning allows them.

Can I build a barn before I build the house?

In a zoned part of unincorporated Shelby County, the ordinance says no accessory structure may go up until construction of the main building has begun. In an unzoned area, recorded covenants may say the same thing. Ask the planning office and read the restrictions before you plan the barn first.

Are restrictive covenants the same as zoning?

No. Zoning is a public rule set by a city or county. Covenants are private restrictions recorded at the probate office against a subdivision or a deed, and they bind later owners. Either one can stop a project, so check both.

Do I need a permit if my land isn't zoned?

Usually, yes. Zoning and permits are separate. A septic system needs a permit from the county health department. The county's building permit checklist applies to building in unincorporated Shelby County, so confirm with Development Services what it requires for your beat.

Can I Build What I Want on This Alabama Tract?

Zoning and recorded covenants decide whether a house, a manufactured home, a barn, or a second dwelling fits. Where to look in Shelby County before you buy.

Can you build what you want on this tract? Maybe. The answer sits in two places. Zoning is the public rule a city or county sets, and it only reaches land where that government has zoning power. Restrictive covenants are private rules recorded against the land at the probate office. A tract can be unzoned and still carry covenants that bar a manufactured home. "Unrestricted" in a listing answers neither question until you check.

We pull the actual record and read it. That works well here, because every piece of this is public. It's just not in one place.

First, Find Out Who Makes the Rules for This Parcel

Out in the county, the first job is finding out whose rules reach the parcel at all.

In Shelby County, the county's zoning regulations spell out where they apply. The ordinance covers any beat "in which a majority of the qualified electors vote to accept the zoning authority of the Planning Commission." It excepts "all territories within the corporate limits of any municipality." A beat is a voting precinct. The county zoning map "shall zone only territory within Shelby County and outside the corporate limits of any municipality within the county."

So every parcel falls in one of three places:

Inside a city or town. The city's zoning ordinance and map govern.
In a county beat that accepted zoning. The county ordinance governs, and the parcel sits in a named district.
In an unzoned part of the county. No zoning district applies, but permits and covenants still do.

A mailing address does not settle which one you're in. A tract with a city's name on the mailbox can sit outside its limits. LandScout tracks 16,727 undeveloped parcels in Shelby County, according to the Shelby County numbers, and the rules on any one of them start with this question.

In a Zoned County Beat, the District Decides

Once you know the parcel is in a zoned beat, the next question is which district. The ordinance lists districts from H-Z Holding Zone and A-1 Agricultural through E-1 Single-Family Estate, the R residential districts, and on to business and industrial. Each one carries its own list of permitted uses. The copy on the county site includes revisions through July 2023.

Two districts show how much the label matters.

In A-1 Agricultural, the permitted uses start with "single-family dwelling including mobile homes on lots of one-acre minimum size." The list goes on to grazing, crops, and "the raising of animals." Accessory structures are allowed, "provided that no structure for the keeping of farm animals or poultry shall be located closer than 100 feet from any property line."

In E-1 Single-Family Estate, the first permitted use reads "single-family dwelling, except that mobile homes are not permitted."

The ordinance defines its words with care. It calls a mobile home "any manufactured home built prior to June 15, 1976," and elsewhere counts a doublewide mobile home as a portable building. Ask the planning office how your unit would be classed before you buy the land.

The ordinance's general sections cover the barn and the second dwelling:

Barn first. "No accessory structure shall be constructed or moved upon a lot until the construction of the main building has actually been commenced."
Living space in an outbuilding. "No accessory building shall be used for dwelling purposes other than by domestic servants entirely employed on the premises."
A second main house. "More than one main building may be erected on one lot if the dimensional regulations for each structure or use are met." In A-1, that means room for 1 acre per family, plus the setbacks.

That last line reads like a path to a second home, and the planning office's reading is the one that counts. Ask before you plan on it.

Inside City Limits, the City's Map Governs

Inside a city, the county ordinance steps aside. Each city has its own zoning ordinance, its own map, and its own list of what each district allows.

Shelby County's permit checklist shows how the offices split the work. County Planning Services handles zoning approval for projects in unincorporated Shelby County, and also in Montevallo, Vincent, and Wilsonville. Chelsea, Columbiana, Indian Springs Village, and Wilton are different. There, "you must obtain zoning approval from their office prior to applying for permit with us." For any other city, call its planning office.

City limits also move. The county ordinance says land "annexed by a municipality in the future shall be subject to the regulations of such municipality." A tract that is unzoned today can come under a city's rules later.

Covenants Ride With the Deed, Zoned or Not

Restrictive covenants are a second layer. A developer or a past owner writes them, and they're recorded with the judge of probate, either on the subdivision plat (the recorded map of the lots) or inside a deed. They run with the land, so they bind the next owner and the one after that.

Alabama's recording law explains why that holds even if nobody shows them to you. Under Section 35-4-51, documents conveying an interest in real estate are recorded with the probate judge. "Their filing for registration shall constitute notice of their contents."

Covenants can be stricter than zoning. Restrictions you may find include:

a minimum heated square footage for the house
no manufactured or modular homes
no outbuilding until the main house is built
limits on livestock, or none at all
no further dividing of a lot
house plans approved by a committee before you build

An A-1 tract can allow a mobile home under zoning while its recorded restrictions forbid one. An unzoned tract can still carry a full page of covenants. The planning office answers the zoning question. The covenants are a separate paper, and you read them yourself. Our note on reading a recorded plat covers where restrictions tend to appear on or beside the plat sheet.

Pull the Record Before You Sign

We'd work it in this order, with the parcel number in hand.

Confirm the jurisdiction. Ask the county, or the nearest city, whether the parcel is inside city limits.
Get the zoning district. The county zoning map is on file with the Department of Development Services "for public inspection during normal working hours." Inside a city, ask the city planning office.
Read the district's use list. Look for your exact plan under permitted uses and conditional uses. A conditional use needs planning commission approval, so it is a maybe until granted.
Pull the deed and the plat. The Shelby County Probate Office links its records search from its recording page. Follow the book and page in the deed to the plat, then look for restrictions recorded with it or separately.
Ask for a title search. An attorney's title search finds recorded restrictions and easements you might miss.
Get answers in writing. A planning office email beats a phone call you have to remember.

LandScout's parcel view can show the zoning code on file for a parcel. It's looked up at the parcel's center point, so a split-zoned parcel may carry another district, and the view says to verify with the jurisdiction. It does not show covenants. Those live at probate.

Permits Still Apply Where Zoning Doesn't

An unzoned tract still needs a septic permit, and the county's permit checklist applies to building in unincorporated Shelby County. Confirm with Development Services that it covers your beat. The checklist asks for a "Sewer / Septic Tank Authorization Form from the Shelby County Health Department," or a paid impact fee letter if the lot is on sewer. It asks for a plot plan showing the structure's location, with setbacks (the minimum distance a building must sit from each property line) and an erosion control layout. In a zoned area, the planning office checks those distances.

If the project sits in a FEMA flood plain (the Flood Map Service Center has the current map), it adds "a Flood Plain Development Permit along with a survey." For a manufactured home, the county wants the year, make, serial number, and size.

A septic system takes a county health department permit and a soil evaluation on the lot itself, and a failed evaluation can end a homesite. The Alabama Department of Public Health's Can I Live On This Lot? page says a "Permit to Install" comes first, and "then and only then can you begin the construction of your system." That process is covered in what "the ground won't perk" means. Those limits then help pick the house spot, as in which way the house should face.

LandScout can show the zoning code, flood zone, and soil screen for each tract in one view, and the plan details are on the pricing page.

Pull the zoning district and the recorded restrictions before you sign, because the plan you brought to the tract has to clear both.