In Douglas County there are three lake classifications. Lakes such as Carlos and Miltona are in the General Development classification. Lakes in this classification have the least restrictive rules for property owners. Next in line are Recreational Development lakes such as Chippewa and Lobster. The classification that is most restrictive is Natural Environment. A few examples are Moon and Mina.
Along with the size of the lot what is most important to lakefront buyers is the feet of frontage. The is my one allowed obvious statement of the day. For General Development lakes the minimum is 100 feet, it is 150 feet for Recreational Development lakes and 200 feet for Natural Environment lakes. Why this is important is that if you have a lake lot at a General Development lake with 200 feet of frontage you could split it into two lots if the lots met the county minimum (20,000 square feet…40,000 square feet for Recreational Development lakes…80,000 for Natural Environment lakes). If you have 180 feet of frontage, enjoy the fact that you have a lot of shoreline and you will never be tempted to break it up as it isn’t allowed. Another very important rule is that not more than 25 percent of you land can have impervious surface (buildings, sidewalks, decks, driveways, etc.). One note. If the property is within the the City Limits of Alexandria, the city’s rule has presidence and the minimum is only 75 feet of frontage.
Douglas County provides a list with each lake’s classification as well as overviews of the rules for each classification. Below are PDFs of each that you can download.
