Todd County, Minnesota Building Permit Guide

Todd County Planning and Zoning, at 215 1st Avenue South, Suite 103, in Long Prairie, runs the county’s land use ordinances for zoning, septic systems, feedlots, subdivisions, shoreland, gravel mining and floodplains. A dwelling permit costs $15 per 100 square feet of all floors under the 2026 fee schedule, a rate the draft minutes of the October 20, 2026 County Board meeting show kept for 2027, and a one-year moratorium adopted July 21, 2026 blocks data center permits.

What requires a permit in Todd County?

The county’s fee schedule shows what Planning and Zoning permits: new dwellings by floor area, decks, accessory and agricultural buildings, grain bins, semi-trailers and cargo containers used for storage, commercial and industrial buildings, towers over 100 feet, gravel pits and adult-use businesses. Structural alterations to an existing building need a permit too, and the schedule defines them as work on supporting elements such as roof rafters, the foundation or outside walls.

The schedule allows two semi-trailers or cargo containers per parcel in the commercial and AF1 and AF2 districts. A structure destroyed by an act of God can be replaced with a permit that carries no charge, while rebuilding more than half of a nonconforming house, shed or boathouse carries a $300 surcharge on top of the permit.

What the county decides and what the state holds

The county decides zoning districts, setbacks, shoreland and floodplain standards, septic rules and feedlot siting through its Planning and Zoning Ordinance, and the County Board makes the final call on conditional uses and rezonings. Among its recent changes is an amendment to Section 9.04, prohibited structures, heard by the Planning Commission on August 6 and September 3, 2026 and in effect since September 15, 2026. The department’s pages describe land use permits; they do not describe building-code plan review or framing inspections. Electrical work is permitted and inspected by the Department of Labor and Industry unless a local program applies, and Todd County is not among the counties that the Minnesota Department of Health lists as running a delegated well program, so well work goes through the state.

Todd County building department: who handles permitting

Planning and Zoning issues the permits and staffs the two boards; Adam Ossefoort is the division director. Staff split the work by subject: one planner covers septic, shoreland and mining, another septic systems, splits and plats, and a specialist handles Board of Adjustment cases, conditional use permits and general permitting. Planning Commission minutes show the county hearing cases in townships such as Long Prairie, Staples, Ward and Eagle Valley, with township representatives speaking on them.

Cities in Todd County

Each city decides its own zoning and whether to enforce the State Building Code. Staples is shared with Wadena County, Osakis with Douglas County and Swanville with Morrison County. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists most Todd County cities as participating in the flood insurance program.

Todd County permit types

Besides land use permits, the schedule lists shoreland alteration permits, shoreland access permits, recreational vehicle unit permits, septic permits, conditional use permits, variances, administrative septic variances, acreage cluster applications, rezonings, plats, administrative splits and lot line adjustments, planned unit developments, environmental assessment worksheet reviews, ordinance amendment requests and appeals to the Board of Adjustment.

Residential permits

A house is charged on the floor area of every level, and a deck by size, with a break at 250 square feet. Detached garages, sheds and farm buildings fall under the non-residential rate, capped at $500 a structure. An addition that pushes the building outward in any direction is charged as new floor area; work inside the existing footprint that touches rafters, foundations or outside walls takes the $50 structural alteration permit. Septic work for a home is a separate permit that includes a site inspection and soil verification.

Shoreland lots have their own fee lines, the shoreland alteration permit and the shoreland access permit, and the county posts a shoreland zoning standards guide with links to the Department of Natural Resources lake finder and its list of projects that need a DNR permit.

Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles residential permit expediting, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.

Commercial and other permits

Commercial and industrial buildings pay by area with the same $500 cap. Towers over 100 feet need a $500 permit plus a conditional use permit, gravel pits a permit valid for four years, and adult-use businesses a $750 land use permit. The county also registers adult-use cannabis retailers and temporary cannabis events, and the data center moratorium bars new data center applications until July 2027 unless lifted earlier.

What comes before the permit

• Road access. New accesses must be approved by the road authority, which is the township on township roads; the county attaches that condition to its approvals.
• Septic design. Any state-licensed designer or installer may work in Todd County, and the county keeps a local contractor list.
• Hearings. Conditional uses, rezonings and plats go to the Planning Commission and then the County Board; variances go to the Board of Adjustment.
• Wetlands. The Todd Soil and Water Conservation District’s Wetland Conservation Act page explains that draining, filling or excavating a wetland is prohibited unless the activity is exempt or the wetland is replaced.
• Future building. County Board conditional use approvals have included the condition that land use permits are required for all future construction on the site.

Todd County permit fees

The County Board adopted the 2026 County Fee Schedule, including the Planning and Zoning page, on October 21, 2025, effective January 1, 2026. All fees are non-refundable.

Worked example from the schedule: a two-story house with 800 square feet on each floor counts 1,600 square feet, or 16 times $15, so the land use permit is $240, and a standard Type I septic permit adds $300 for $540. According to the draft minutes of the October 20, 2026 Board meeting, which were up for approval in the November 2, 2026 packet, the Board adopted a 2027 schedule, effective January 1, 2027, that keeps these Planning and Zoning rates; it adds privies to the standard septic line and tank replacement to the holding tank line, and drops the 2026 line for a cannabis business land use permit, listed at $1,000 per 100 square feet.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Todd County does not list electrical, plumbing or mechanical permits among its fees. Electrical permits are filed with the Department of Labor and Industry wherever its lookup shows the state as the inspection authority, and contractors, electricians and plumbers are licensed by the state, not the county.

• Septic work. Any state-licensed designer or installer may work in the county; the posted local list is not complete, and the state keeps the full directory.
• Septic loans. Planning and Zoning takes applications for a low-interest septic loan by phone at 320-732-4420.
• Wells. Well construction and sealing are regulated by the Minnesota Department of Health in Todd County.

How to apply for a Todd County permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Cases that need a hearing set the timeline. The Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month and the Board of Adjustment at 6 p.m. on the fourth Thursday, both in the Commissioner’s Room of the Historic Courthouse, and staff and a commissioner visit the site beforehand. Planning Commission recommendations then go to the County Board, which meets on the first and third Tuesdays. Starting work first can cost up to three times the fee, and a $1,000 noncompliance fee doubles in the second year and triples in the third.

Inspections in Todd County

The septic permit fee covers the county’s site inspection and soil verification, and from the third visit on each additional inspection costs $150; a holding tank permit is $150. Advanced treatment systems carry a $1,500 fee that is raised or lowered to the actual cost.

Before a Planning Commission hearing, staff and a commissioner visit the site, and conditional use approvals carry conditions such as storing materials within setbacks, providing off-street parking or keeping loading out of the roadway. Electrical work is inspected under the state permit.

Minnesota building code

Todd County administers zoning, septic, feedlot, subdivision, shoreland, mining and floodplain ordinances. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the county as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program since September 1, 1988, with a current flood map dated February 4, 2011.

Minnesota has one State Building Code that applies statewide and overrides local building codes, but enforcement is local: whether a building permit is needed depends on whether the city, township or county enforces the code there. Electrical permits come from the Department of Labor and Industry unless the local government runs its own electrical inspection. Minnesota rules

Todd County permit search and official resources

The county’s GIS Viewer shows parcel boundaries, address points, plats and zoning, and Planning and Zoning supplies Planning Commission agendas and minutes on request at 320-732-4420. Recent Planning Commission packets and minutes, and County Board agendas, packets and minutes, are posted by meeting date.

• Todd County Planning & Zoning
• Septic systems (SSTS) information
• Information for shoreland property owners
• Planning Commission meetings
• Board of Adjustment
• County Board meeting information
• October 21, 2025 Board packet with the 2026 fee schedule
• November 4, 2025 Board packet with the adoption minutes
• October 20, 2026 Board packet with the 2027 fee schedule
• November 2, 2026 Board packet (draft October 20 minutes adopting the 2027 schedule)
• July 21, 2026 minutes: data center interim ordinance
• Public Works
• Interactive GIS mapping
• Wetland Conservation Act (Todd SWCD)
• Delegated well programs (Minnesota Department of Health)
• State electrical permits (DLI)
• FEMA Community Status Book, Minnesota

Todd County permit FAQs

Do I need a permit to re-shingle or replace windows?

No. Shingles, doors, windows and siding are normal maintenance under the fee schedule’s note.

How much is a land use permit for a new house?

$15 per 100 square feet of all floors, with a $50 minimum, under the 2026 schedule.

Is there a cap on shed or pole building fees?

Yes. Non-residential structures pay $10 per 100 square feet up to $500 per structure.

When do the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment meet?

The first and fourth Thursdays of each month at 6 p.m., in the Historic Courthouse.

Can I apply for a data center?

Not until the one-year moratorium adopted July 21, 2026 ends or the County Board lifts it.

Does the county issue permits in Long Prairie or Staples?

Those cities handle their own permits; the county office covers its township zoning jurisdiction.

Will fees change in 2027?

The draft minutes of the October 20, 2026 Board meeting record a 2027 schedule, effective January 1, 2027, with the same Planning and Zoning rates; those minutes were up for approval on November 2, 2026.

Simplify Todd County permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Minnesota. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Todd County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.