Can I put in an outhouse?

**No.** Three documents say so, from three directions.

**The Accessory Building Regulations.** No outhouses shall be used with accessory buildings.

**The covenants.** Each residence shall be provided with and maintain **only inside toilets**, with septic tanks and drain fields or dry well installations meeting the requirements of the Michigan State Board of Health.

**Freeman Township.** No building constructed, altered or repaired may be used for a **privy or outside toilet**. Buildings used for dwelling, commercial or manufacturing purposes must have proper flush type toilet facilities, with septic tanks and seepage beds complying with Michigan law and the rules of the Michigan Department of Public Health and the Clare County Health Department.

**Why it is this firm.** Groundwater. The lake, the canals and the drinking water here share the same aquifer, and a community of this density on unsewered lots depends on every property having a compliant septic system.

**What is required instead.** A proper septic system, approved as part of your building permit. On waterfront lots, the tank and drain field must sit on the side of the dwelling **away from** the water — and that requirement also applies when an existing system is replaced.

**Temporary sanitation during construction** is a different question. Ask the Township Zoning Administrator what is acceptable rather than improvising.

*Source: Accessory Building Regulations (6/8/2025), item 15; Restrictive Covenants, Article VII, Section 4; Zoning Ordinance No. 8, Section 4.22.*