Building permits, zoning and septic rules in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

At a glance

Building permit

Required inside the borough; the borough's building code department handles it¹

Building code

Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, adopted by the borough⁴

Zoning

Borough's own ordinance with a Table of Use Regulations²

Zoning districts

Residential, commercial, office, industrial and special districts⁵

Septic

Permit from a local agency under Pennsylvania's Sewage Facilities Act³

Owner-builder

Pennsylvania has no general contractor license for work on your own home⁶

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 14, 2026.

Do you need a building permit in East Stroudsburg, PA?

Yes. The borough's building code states that no person may begin work without a valid building permit¹. The borough has adopted Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code as its municipal building code⁴, and the state code itself requires property owners to obtain a permit before starting any work⁷.

A residential applicant submits an application, two sets of plans and a certificate of insurance, or a workers' compensation exemption form when the contractor carries no coverage; sealed plans may be requested after plan review⁸. Fees are set by borough resolution, so ask the building code department for the current schedule⁹.

Who issues building permits in East Stroudsburg borough?

The Borough of East Stroudsburg runs its own building code department, and a third-party firm, Municipal Code Solutions, oversees it and coordinates permitting, inspections and certificates of occupancy¹⁰. Call the borough office at 570-421-8300¹⁰.

Inside borough limits, the Monroe County Planning Department does not issue building permits or zoning approval; it keeps model ordinances and a municipal directory¹¹.

Does East Stroudsburg have zoning, and what does it allow?

Yes. East Stroudsburg borough has its own zoning, and every one of Monroe County's municipalities has its own zoning and subdivision ordinances¹¹. The borough's Table of Use Regulations marks each use as permitted by right, by special exception, by borough council approval, or not permitted². Districts include R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential, several commercial and industrial districts, and an S-1 district⁵.

We could not confirm the borough's rules on RVs, tiny homes, accessory dwellings, minimum lot size or setbacks. Ask the Zoning Officer, who also routes variances and special exceptions to the zoning hearing board¹². Creating new lots or changing property lines falls under the borough's subdivision and land development chapter¹³.

How do septic permits work in East Stroudsburg?

Pennsylvania requires a permit from a local agency before installing or occupying a building served by an onlot sewage system¹⁴. The local agency may be a municipality, several municipalities together, or a county health department¹⁵. We could not confirm which agency covers addresses inside East Stroudsburg, so ask the borough office at 570-421-8300¹⁰.

Most of the borough is likely served by public sewers, which would make a septic permit moot, but we could not confirm this; ask before you rely on it. Where onlot systems are used, Monroe County's soils make site evaluation important:¹⁶ of Monroe County soils rate as not limited for a conventional drain field.

Can you live in an RV or tiny home in East Stroudsburg?

We could not confirm the borough's zoning rules on RV occupancy, tiny homes or temporary camping. The Zoning Officer is the person to ask before you park or place a unit on a lot¹². Pennsylvania's state park camping limits do not answer the question for private land in the borough¹⁷.

Building a home in East Stroudsburg: the steps, in order

1. Ask the Zoning Officer whether your use and lot are allowed in the district and whether a zoning permit is needed¹².
2. Confirm sewer or septic with the borough office; if a septic system is needed, obtain the local agency's permit first¹⁴.
3. Submit the building permit application, two sets of plans and certificate of insurance to the building code department⁸.
4. If your driveway meets a state highway, a highway occupancy permit is required¹⁸.
5. Schedule inspections through the borough; a certificate of occupancy must be issued before use¹⁹.

What stays with Monroe County and the state?

Septic permits come from a local sewage agency and the Department of Environmental Protection oversees the program¹⁵. For land outside the borough, see the Monroe County page. Monroe County's effective property tax rate is²⁰%, and the median property tax bill is $²¹ per year.

Watch-outs

• Zoning approval is separate from a building permit, and not every project needs both⁸.
• We could not confirm minimum lot sizes, setbacks or height limits for R-1 and other districts; ask the Zoning Officer before you buy¹².
• Floodplain rules, short-term rental rules and driveway access inside the borough were not confirmed; call the borough office at 570-421-8300¹⁰.

Sources

1. Building Code Department – East Stroudsburg Borough (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
2. Borough of East Stroudsburg, PA Code of Ordinances (eCode360) table of contents (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
3. Municipal On Lot Sewage Service Areas, quoted and re-checked
4. Chapter 73 Part 4 Uniform Construction Codes, East Stroudsburg (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
5. Chapter 157 Zoning Attachment 1 Table of Use Regulations (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
6. Contractor Licensing (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
7. Apply for a Uniform Construction Code Building Permit, quoted and re-checked
8. Building Code Department – East Stroudsburg Borough (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
9. Chapter 73 Part 4 Uniform Construction Codes, East Stroudsburg (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
10. East Stroudsburg Borough Building Code Department (eaststroudsburgboro.org)
11. 2025 Annual Report, quoted and re-checked
12. East Stroudsburg Borough Zoning Officer (eaststroudsburgboro.org)
13. Borough of East Stroudsburg, PA Code of Ordinances (eCode360) table of contents (Borough of East Stroudsburg), quoted and re-checked
14. 25 Pa. Code § 72.22. Permit issuance (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
15. Municipal On Lot Sewage Service Areas, quoted and re-checked
16. Share of soils USDA rates "not limited" for a conventional septic drain field (SSURGO). A strict rating: the median county is about 6% and a tenth of counties are 0%, so a low figure means most lots need a site evaluation or an engineered system, not that septic is impossible. Cite it only with that caveat: Bolthole Index county data
17. RV and Tent Campsites (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
18. Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code Chapter 403, quoted and re-checked
19. Apply for a Uniform Construction Code Building Permit, quoted and re-checked
20. Effective property tax rate: Bolthole Index county data
21. Median property tax bill: Bolthole Index county data

Written October 14, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.