Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Harrison Township, Indiana

Rules another office applies inside Harrison Township

Harrison Township does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning districts that apply to unincorporated land inside Harrison township under the joint Columbus and Bartholomew County ordinance

  • The ordinance is adopted by the county only for land within its advisory plan commission jurisdiction; land inside Columbus or its extended jurisdiction is excluded.
  • District list is published; which district applies to a given parcel requires the zoning map (county GIS layer).

  “agricultural zoning districts av - agriculture: voluntary protection”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Agriculture: preferred (AP) district lots on unincorporated land inside Harrison township under county zoning

  • Lot area threshold for AP was not captured in the opened text; only the lot-width standard is recorded here.
  • Applies only to land mapped AP on the county zoning map.

  minimum lot width (lot area greater than 2 acres): >= 150 feet (lot area greater than 2 acres) · minimum lot width (lot area 2 acres or less): >= 75 feet (lot area 2 acres or less) · minimum lot frontage: >= 30 feet

  “3.5 agriculture: preferred (ap) c. lot standards minimum lot area minimum lot width • 150 feet (lot area greater than 2 acres) • 75 feet (lot area 2 acres or less) minimum lot frontage • 30 feet”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Residential lots zoned RS1 (residential: single-family 1) on unincorporated land inside Harrison township under county zoning

    “3.8 residential: single-family 1 (rs1) c. lot standards minimum lot area • 12,000 sq. ft. minimum lot width • 75 feet”

• SetbacksSpecified

  RS1 (residential: single-family 1) lots on unincorporated land inside Harrison township under county zoning

  • Front setbacks depend on street classification; a garage with a vehicle entrance facing the street requires 25 feet (per the ordinance footnote).
  • Side and rear figures were read from a garbled PDF extraction and must be verified before relying on them.

  minimum front setback, arterial street or road: >= 50 feet · minimum front setback, collector road: >= 30 feet · minimum front setback, collector street: >= 15 feet · minimum front setback, local road: >= 25 feet · minimum front setback, local street: >= 10 feet · minimum primary and accessory structure side/rear setback (as extracted): >= 5 feet

  “minimum front setback • arterial street or road: 50 feet • collector road: 30 feet • collector street: 15 feet* • local road: 25 feet • local street: 10 feet* * 25 feet for any garage with a vehicle entrance facing the street • primary structure: 5 feet • accessory structure: 5 feet”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Agriculture: preferred (AP) lots on unincorporated land inside Harrison township under county zoning

    “minimum side & rear setback • agricultural structure: 30 feet • primary structure: 30 feet* • accessory structure: 15 feet*”

• Lot coverageSpecified

  AP lots on unincorporated land inside Harrison township, non-agricultural structures

  • Agricultural structures have no coverage limit under this standard.

  maximum lot coverage, non-agricultural structures: <= 35 percent (agricultural structures: none)

  “maximum lot coverage • agricultural structures: none • non-agricultural structures: 35%”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — RS1 lots on unincorporated land inside Harrison township under county zoning

    “minimum lot width • 75 feet minimum lot frontage maximum lot coverage • 30%”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Land divisions on unincorporated land inside Harrison township under the county subdivision control ordinance

  • The subdivision control ordinance is a separate document from the zoning ordinance; its standards were not opened.
  • Applies to land outside Columbus and the joint district, per the county jurisdiction statement in Article 1.

  “from which any type of subdivision permitted by the subdivision control ordinance may be created.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Harrison Township or Bartholomew County directly.

• Building permit — New dwelling construction on private land inside Harrison township
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for a homeowner building on their own land inside Harrison township
• Building code adopted — Building code adoption for land inside Harrison township
• Inspections — Building inspections for new construction inside Harrison township
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new dwellings inside Harrison township

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.