Septic permits & records
Greene County Environmental Health (Northeast Health District)
- Address
- 1031 Apalachee Ave, Greensboro, GA 30642
- Phone
- 706-453-4471
- Hours
- Specialists in the office 8:30-10:00 a.m., Monday-Friday
Lake Oconee · Greene Lake Oconee Shoreline
Septic systems and site work for Lake Oconee lots in Greene County outside the gated communities, from Parks Mill Crossing to White Oak Plantation and Pullman Lane.
Greene County Lake Oconee Shoreline (Parks Mill, White Oak Plantation, Pullman Lane), on Lake Oconee · Greene County. ZIP code 30642.
- Lake Oconee & Lake Sinclair
- Residential & commercial
- 10% off: military & first responders
Get a free estimate
or call (678) 863-5620The short answer
Can I put a septic system on a Greene County Lake Oconee lot outside the gated communities?
Usually, if the lot clears Greene's Board of Health minimum: 0.75 acre on public water or 1.5 acres on a private well, not counting land within 75 feet of Lake Oconee's high-water line. Lakefront lots off Parks Mill Drive, Withrow Road and Pullman Lane all list septic tanks; none of them is on Piedmont sewer.↗↗↗
Reviewed by A Class Septic Services · Last updated
The Greene Lake Oconee Shoreline story
The other Greene County lakefront
Most of what people picture on the Greene side of Lake Oconee sits behind a gate: Reynolds, Harbor Club, the clubs off the Parkway. North and west of them the shore looks different. Parks Mill Road winds toward the water past Georgia Power's Parks Ferry campground at No. 1491. Old Salem Road leads to another Georgia Power campground. In between are older lake neighborhoods and new wooded lots sold one at a time.↗
That is where a lake house still gets built from raw ground. A 1986 lakefront bungalow in Parks Mill Crossing on 1.15 acres lists public water, a septic tank and a dock. On Withrow Road in White Oak Plantation, a 0.85-acre lot was marketed with well water, septic and grading for a walkout basement. A 1.82-acre lakefront homesite on Pullman Lane, listed and marketed as not part of the Eagle View subdivision, shows public water and septic.↗↗↗
No Piedmont Water main runs to these roads; its sewer list stops at the named resort communities and the Highway 44 corridor. Out here the buyer is the developer, and the first real question about any lot is whether the county will let a drain field go on it.↗
Sewer or septic?
Septic, measured the Greene County way
Greene's Board of Health ordinance is stricter than the state default and it is written with this lake in mind. The minimum is 32,670 square feet (0.75 acre) on public water or 65,340 square feet (1.5 acres) on a non-public water supply, each with 25,500 square feet of usable soil. Land within 75 feet of Lake Oconee's high-water line does not count toward either number.↗
The fine print matters more on a lake lot than the headline. The ordinance also drops road rights-of-way, easements, unsuitable soils, fill and graded soil, and land within 50 feet of any stream or wetland from the count. It wants a lot 100 feet wide on public water, or 150 on a well, where the system and its replacement will go. It can require more land when slopes exceed 5 percent, perc rates run slower than 45 minutes per inch, or the house design needs cut and fill.↗
Run the White Oak Plantation lot through that math and it is a lesson. It is 0.85 acre on a well, which on paper falls short of the 1.5 acres a well lot needs, and it is graded for a walkout. We have not seen that lot's permit, so we are not saying it fails; we are saying a buyer should get Greene's septic letter before closing on any well lot.↗↗
How to tell which one you have
- Check the listing's 'Water' field first: public water means a 0.75-acre minimum, a well means 1.5 acres.
- Subtract the strip within 75 feet of the high-water line, plus easements and road right-of-way, from the deed acreage.
- Ask Greene Environmental Health for a septic letter or perc test on the parcel; the county building office needs that letter anyway.
Soil & terrain
Pacolet slopes and Cecil uplands
Pull up the soil survey for a typical stretch of this shore and it shows Pacolet sandy loam on 15 to 25 percent slopes, moderately eroded, rated very limited for septic fields. That is the classic Greene lakefront: a sandy surface over red clay on a hillside that drops fast toward the cove. Across the county, NRCS rates about 38 percent of surveyed acreage very limited for absorption fields and another 57 percent somewhat limited.↗
Slope is the hard line. Georgia's manual does not allow absorption fields on slopes over 25 percent unless a soil classifier's special study shows the problem can be overcome, and Greene's own ordinance can ask for more land on anything over 5 percent. On these lots the field usually goes on the flattest ridge ground near the road, the house goes below it, and a pump tank lifts effluent back up the hill, or a drip field follows the contour.↗↗
More about Greene Lake Oconee Shoreline
From wooded lot to buildable: the order of work
On a raw Greene lake lot we start with the drain field, not the house. The county needs room for the system and an equal area for a replacement, so we flag both, protect them from traffic and keep the driveway and house pad out of them. Then the clearing plan follows: what comes down for the drive, the pad and the field lines, and what stays.↗
Near the water, Georgia Power's guidelines take over. Grubbing or regrading in the 25-foot vegetative buffer or on its project land needs its written approval after the county's buffer permits. Trees it allows removed for a house, seawall or septic installation get replanted one for one with natives, and any drain pipe has to end at the project boundary and spill into a swale, French drain or dry creek bed.↗
Greene is not on Georgia EPD's summer open-burning ban list, which gives a Greene lot more options for brush than one across the water in Putnam or Morgan. On a wooded slope above the lake, though, the first priority is keeping the clay on the hill: silt fence on the contour, a stone entrance and quick cover on anything cut.↗
- Planning to rent the lake house? A Greene County short-term rental has to sit in a Short-Term Rental Overlay District and hold an annual county STR license.↗
On a raw Greene lake lot we start with the drain field, not the house.
Permits · Greene County Environmental Health (Northeast Health District), 1031 Apalachee Ave, Greensboro
Greene's path from lot to septic permit
- 01
Call Greene Environmental Health at 706-453-4471 for a septic letter or perc test; specialists are in the office 8:30 to 10 a.m. on weekdays.↗
- 02
Bring that approval letter to the county building office with the building permit application; Greene will not issue a permit that relies on septic without it.↗
- 03
Pay the inspection fee: $350 for a new residential system, $400 at five or more bedrooms.↗
- 04
Build the system to the permit and leave it uncovered for inspection; on the lakeside, clear buffer work with Georgia Power first.↗
Georgia rule Greene County Board of Health Lot Size Ordinance, Section 1(A)
“slope greater than 5%, percolation rates higher than 45 minutes per inch”
Services here
What a Greene lake lot needs
Septic design and install first; then the clearing, drive and pad work that make a steep wooded lot buildable.
- 01Septic System InstallationNew systems for lake houses on Pullman Lane, Withrow Road and Parks Mill lots.Septic System Installation details
- 02Septic Pump SystemsHouses set below the ridge where the only good soil is.Septic Pump Systems details
- 03Drip Septic SystemsFields on contour across Pacolet slopes.Drip Septic Systems details
- 04Drain Field Installation & Repair1980s fields under older Parks Mill lake homes.Drain Field Installation & Repair details
- 05Land & Lot ClearingSelective clearing that protects the field areas and the 25-foot buffer.Land & Lot Clearing details
- 06Grading & Driveway PreparationDrives cut on the contour down steep wooded lots.Grading & Driveway Preparation details
- 07Basement ExcavationWalkout basements on lots like the graded White Oak homesite.Basement Excavation details
- 08Erosion Control & Land DryingSilt fence and cover so the lot stays out of the cove.Erosion Control & Land Drying details
Also available:Tree Trunk & Stump RemovalFrench Drain InstallationTrenching, Utility Trenches & Backfilling
Who to call at the county
Offices for a Greene lake lot
- Greene County Building & Zoning Building and land-disturbance permits1034 Silver Drive, Suite 103, Greensboro; 706-453-3333.↗
- Georgia Power East Georgia Lake Resources Office Buffer, tree and shoreline approvals125 Wallace Dam Road NE, Eatonton.↗
Nearby areas
Along the Greene shore
- Morgan's lake shore septic & sewerParks Mill Road runs on into Morgan, toward Sugar Creek and Oconee Shores.
- Harbor Club septic & sewerGated golf community, also mostly on septic.
- Lake Oconee Parkway septic & sewerGA 44, where Piedmont sewer reaches some parcels.
- Reynolds Lake Oconee septic & sewerThe resort side of Greene's shoreline, on Piedmont sewer.
FAQ
Greene lake-lot questions buyers ask
Straight answers, with the rule or record behind them. Still unsure? Call and ask the crew that digs.
(678) 863-5620How big does a Greene County lake lot have to be for septic?
Greene's ordinance requires 0.75 acre with public water or 1.5 acres with a private well, each with 25,500 square feet of usable soil, and land within 75 feet of Lake Oconee's high-water line does not count.
Source: Greene County Board of Health: Lot Size Ordinance (amended 2018, effective Sept 7, 2018)
The lot is steep. Does that change anything?
Yes. Greene's board can require a larger lot when slopes exceed 5 percent, and Georgia's manual bars absorption fields on slopes over 25 percent without a soil classifier's special investigation.
Source: GA DPH Manual for On-Site Sewage Management Systems (March 2026), Section B: General Site Provisions
Can I count the lakefront part of my lot?
Not the strip within 75 feet of the high-water line. Greene's ordinance also leaves out easements, road right-of-way, unsuitable soil and land within 50 feet of any stream or wetland.
Source: Greene County Board of Health: Lot Size Ordinance (amended 2018, effective Sept 7, 2018)
Is there sewer anywhere on Parks Mill or Withrow Road?
Not from Piedmont Water, whose sewer list covers Reynolds, Great Waters, Cuscowilla, Del Webb, The Landing, Marina Bay and the Highway 44 corridor. Listings on these roads show septic tanks.
Source: Piedmont Water Company: Wastewater Services (sewer communities list)
What does Greene charge for a new septic permit inspection?
$350 for a residential system, or $400 for five or more bedrooms, under fees effective August 1, 2024. A residential repair permit is $200.
Can I clear down to the water for a view?
No mechanical clearing, grubbing or grading in Georgia Power's 25-foot vegetative buffer or on its land without written approval and the county's buffer permits. Ask about selective limbing instead.
Guides
Before you buy a Greene lake lot
Sources
Where these facts come from
Rules, costs and local facts on this page link to the agency, code or publisher that states them. Cost figures are third-party market ranges, not our prices — estimates are free.
Reviewed by A Class Septic Services · Last updated
- 1Greene County Board of Health: Lot Size Ordinance (amended 2018, effective Sept 7, 2018)
- 2MLS listing: 1810 Parks Mill Dr, Greensboro GA (Parks Mill Crossing)
- 3MLS listing: 1603 Pullman Ln, Greensboro GA (Greene County)
- 4Georgia Power: East Georgia Lakes (Oconee/Sinclair)
- 5MLS listing: 1921 Withrow Rd, Greensboro GA (White Oak Plantation)
- 6Piedmont Water Company: Wastewater Services (sewer communities list)
- 7Lake Homes Realty: Lake Oconee overview
- 8Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-1-.03, General Requirements for On-Site Sewage Management Systems (LII)
- 9USDA NRCS Soil Data Access: map unit on the Greene shoreline (33.5115, -83.2736), survey area GA133
- 10GA DPH Manual for On-Site Sewage Management Systems (March 2026), Section B: General Site Provisions
- 11Georgia Power: Lake Oconee Shoreline Guidelines
- 12GA EPD press release, Apr. 29, 2026: Annual Ban on Open Burning
- 13Greene County, GA: Short-Term Rentals
- 14Northeast Health District: Greene County locations (Environmental Health)
- 15Greene County, GA: Septic Tank Permits
- 16Greene County EH Fees (effective August 1, 2024)
Ready when you are
Looking at a lot off Parks Mill or Withrow Road? Find out where the field goes before you close.
Call A Class Septic Services to walk a Greene County lake lot, then build the septic system, drive and pad that fit it. Military and first responders get 10% off.
(678) 863-5620- Lake Oconee & Lake Sinclair
- Residential & commercial
- 10% off for military & first responders
Free estimate
or call (678) 863-5620