In 1974, Carver County adopted a land use plan that sent new neighborhoods to its cities and kept the countryside in farming. Half a century later, that decision still shapes where a new house can go. About 70% of the county remains under agricultural policy, even as its population climbed from 91,042 in 2010 to 106,922 in 2020.
For custom home builders, that means one question comes first. In the ten townships, the county allows one home per 40 acres, and each of those rights is called a building eligibility. No eligibility, no permit, so even a pretty 20-acre parcel may not be buildable. Some townships allow up to four homes per 40 acres in exchange for protecting natural features, while the cities, from Chanhassen to Waconia, follow their own rules. Homes By Tradition designs and builds luxury custom homes on both sides of that line. If your land is in a township, we’ll confirm its status with the county before you close, not after you’ve paid for plans.
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Carver County’s building ground falls into three broad settings, and it’s one of several counties on the full list of communities we build in. Each setting tends to raise its own questions before design starts.
Closest to the core metro, these cities review their own permits, and lots are more often platted, with neighbors on every side. Growth has been steep: the city of Carver grew 40.7% between 2010 and 2020. Early work here centers on setbacks, grading between lots, and subdivision covenants. The same questions come up when building custom homes in Chaska, the county seat, where sites range from the Minnesota River valley to newer neighborhoods.
Lake Waconia covers about 3,000 acres. Where lake property falls in a township, the county issues the permit, and anything inside the shoreland overlay (1,000 feet from a DNR-protected lake, or 300 feet from a river or stream) triggers a septic compliance inspection. That can stretch the timeline and, on older properties, the budget, so we build it into the first estimate.
West of Waconia, Mayer, Cologne, Watertown, and Norwood Young America keep a small-town feel, even after Mayer grew 40.3% and Cologne 34.8% between 2010 and 2020. Beyond their edges lies township land, where most of the county’s farms sit, and the eligibility question comes first. Here, a private well and septic system are usually part of the plan from the start.
A homesite here answers to two sets of rules: Carver County’s planning and zoning rules and the county’s water rules, adopted June 28, 2022. New homes and driveways may need an erosion and sediment control permit in addition to the building permit, issued by the Carver County Water Management Organization or your watershed district.
Those rules include a topsoil standard, and it matters more than it sounds. The Carver Soil and Water Conservation District warns that local subsoil is often heavy clay that packs nearly as hard as concrete. That’s why we stockpile the scraped topsoil and spread it back at final grade. Your future lawn will thank you.
Where you start changes what we do first. A family farm parcel, a lot you’re about to buy, and a search that hasn’t landed anywhere yet each need different early answers. These are the three ways our clients usually begin.
You’ll make the decisions that matter most in the first two stages, well before excavation. In Carver County, that’s when we settle eligibility, jurisdiction, and water review, and everything after follows our design-build process.
We talk through how you live, what you’re hoping to invest, and when you’d like to move in. Bring the parcel ID if you have one.
We confirm whether the county or a city reviews your permit, check eligibility on township land, and look at soils, septic, drainage, and any shoreland overlay. Most surprises get caught here.
Plans develop around the site, placing rooms for light and views, and fitting the driveway and walkout to the grade. You review each round before we move forward.
Your proposal spells out scope, allowances, and projected cost, with site work like septic, well, and erosion control priced in where it applies.
We sign once the scope and price are settled, with a schedule that allows for county, city, and watershed review times.
We run the trades, the schedule, and quality control, and you hear from us at every milestone.
Before closing, we walk through the house with you and resolve every open item. Warranty support continues after you move in.
Most of our clients want to understand their land before they commit to a design. We’ve built our way of working around that instinct.
In a county where so much depends on what the land allows, we’d rather you hear the hard answers from us during planning than from an inspector after the foundation is in.
Maybe you’ve already got your eye on a piece of land. Maybe you just know you want more room than your current place gives you. Either way, you don’t need a plan to call us, just a question. We’ll dig into the eligibility and the shoreland and water rules with you, and sort out what they mean for the home you’re hoping to build. That’s the kind of help you should expect from custom home builders before a dollar goes into land.
It's the county's term for the right to receive a single-family home permit on township land, based on one home per 40 acres unless the township has adopted a bonus option. Carver County Land Management can confirm a parcel's status, and we check it during site analysis.
Sometimes. Whether eligibility exists, and whether it can move to another parcel, depends on the township's chosen density option. It's worth confirming before anyone orders a survey.
Most of the difference comes down to where your land sits. A city lot usually has fewer approvals to clear, while township parcels add the eligibility check, septic work, and erosion permitting before anyone breaks ground. Once construction starts, most of our on-your-lot builds take 10 to 12 months.
Yes, when the building permit falls inside the shoreland overlay, which reaches 1,000 feet from DNR-protected lakes and 300 feet from rivers and streams. We schedule inspections early so it doesn't hold up the permit.
We start a step earlier than most, confirming what the county will allow your land to hold before a floor plan is drawn. From there, design and pricing go hand in hand, so you always know what a change will cost before you make it.