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

Rules another office applies inside Marion Township

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

• Building permitRequired

  New construction on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana, issued by the Boone County Area Plan Office

  • Building (improvement location) permits are issued by the Area Plan Office under the county zoning ordinance, county building regulations and subdivision control ordinance.
  • Construction may proceed only after the permit issues.
  • Agricultural-district residential homes also need TAC review and subdivision steps completed before a building permit issues.

  “issue improvement location permits (building permits) for new construction as directed by the boone county zoning ordinance, building regulations and boone county subdivision control ordinance.”

• InspectionsRequired

  Permitted construction and septic-related approvals on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Area Plan Office permits are subject to at least one site inspection before approval.
  • The septic form requires a satisfactory septic inspection to be on file before the final building inspection is scheduled.
  • Inspection schedule and building-code inspection types were not extracted.

  “any petition or permit granted through the boone county area plan office is subject to at least one site inspection before it will be approved.”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana. Zoning here is the Boone County zoning ordinance administered by the Area Plan Commission. This is a county rule, not an ordinance adopted by Marion township.

  • No Marion township zoning ordinance was found on official sources; the county ordinance is treated as the applicable rule because the township has not been shown to adopt its own.
  • The county ordinance applies within the Area Plan Commission jurisdiction, which covers the unincorporated county and the incorporated Town of Advance; land inside other incorporated municipalities is not covered by this claim.
  • Revision is stamped 'amended through 2025-12-19' in the document; no separate adoption date was stated.

  “the boone county area plan serves the incorporated town of advance and the unincorporated areas of boone county. area plan administers and enforces the zoning, floodplain, building, and unsafe structures through adopted ordinances.”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning districts for unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana (county ordinance Table 1)

  • Districts include conservation (c), agricultural preservation (ap), general agricultural (ag), rural estate (re), residential R1 through R4, multifamily (mf), business, industrial and planned-unit districts per Table 1.
  • Overlay districts also apply where mapped (US 421 - Michigan Road, I-65 South, major thoroughfares, energy overlay); the zoning maps are kept by the Area Plan Office.
  • District maps were not opened; this claim records only that the ordinance classifies the jurisdiction into named districts.

  “the jurisdiction area is hereby classified and divided into districts designated in table 1, land use districts”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Main single-family residential district (R1), unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Front yard is measured from the right-of-way line or the road centerline; the greater governs. Not applicable to flag lots.
  • Side yard of 5 feet applies in all districts except the agricultural district.
  • Accessory structures have a 5-foot minimum rear yard.
  • Rear yard for accessory structures and side-yard rules come from the same ordinance section; the ordinance also has minimum distance from road and building rules for other uses not covered here.

  minimum front yard: >= 20 feet from right-of-way or 70 feet from road centerline, whichever is greater (not applicable to flag lots) · minimum side yard: 5 feet (does not apply in the agricultural district) · minimum rear yard for primary structures: 20 feet · minimum rear yard for accessory structures: 5 feet

  “minimum front yard (unincorporated areas): in all districts, 20 feet from the right of way or 70 feet from the center of the road, whichever is greater (not applicable to flag lots) minimum rear yard for primary structures: 20 feet in all districts minimum rear yard for accessory structures: 5 feet in all districts minimum side yard: 5 feet in all districts except the agricultural district.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Agricultural district (AG), unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

    “minimum side yard: 5 feet in all districts except the agricultural district. number of parking spaces per lot: 2 in all districts minimum spacing between dwellings created in the agricultural district: 140’ feet”

• Living in an RVLimited

  Occupying an RV or camper on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Living quarters are not permitted within an accessory structure without a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals; a camper or RV occupied inside an accessory structure is covered by this rule.
  • Occupying an RV as a dwelling on a lot outside an accessory structure was not addressed in the sections opened.
  • Accessory dwelling units may not be an RV, travel trailer or similar structure.

  “iii. living quarters are not permitted within an accessory structure without a variance from the bza. for purposes of this section, “living quarters” is defined as permanent or roughed-in provisions for sleeping, cooking, and sanitation. this definition also includes a camper or recreational vehicle being occupied inside of an accessory structure.”

• Camping on your landLimited

  Temporary camping on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Camping grounds are a defined land use: a parcel used for temporary occupancy by campers, RVs, travel trailers, mobile homes or tents.
  • Public campgrounds and RV parks are a listed use with use-table permissions and special setbacks; minimum-area numbers for these were not isolated.
  • Personal, private-land camping rules were not located.

  “a parcel of land used or intended to be used for temporary occupancy by campers, recreational vehicles, travel trailers, mobile homes, tents, etc.”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Manufactured homes on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Mobile and manufactured homes are dwelling units in the county definition; recreational vehicles are excluded.
  • As an accessory dwelling, a manufactured home must be permanently installed, titled as real property and meet HUD code.
  • Mobile home parks established after 1 January 1999 need at least 5 acres.
  • Use permissions for a single manufactured home on a private lot in each district were not extracted from the use table.

  minimum lot area for mobile home park: >= 5 acres (mobile home parks established after January 1, 1999)

  “table 5, residential uses and requirements - mobile home parks established after january 1, 1999 zoning district units per acre r1 r2 r3 r4, mf 2 4 6 6 1,000 900 900 900 minimum lot area in all districts: 5 acres”

• Accessory dwellingsLimited

  Accessory dwelling units on lots with an existing single-family home in unincorporated Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Maximum of one accessory dwelling unit per parcel.
  • Must be located behind the front facade of the primary dwelling; must use the existing driveway; a separate driveway from the public right-of-way is not permitted.
  • Lot must meet the district minimum lot area and maximum lot coverage still applies.
  • Must be detached or attached, lawfully built and meet building code; may not contain more than 2 bedrooms or have its own accessory structures.
  • Prohibited structure types include recreational vehicles, travel trailers, motor vehicles, and any structure not intended for permanent human occupancy.

  accessory dwelling units per parcel: 1 units

  “maximum of 1 accessory dwelling unit per parcel quantity structure requirements detached or attached to the primary dwelling unit lawfully built structure that meets applicable building code requirements, including all requirements for a single-family dwelling”

• Who permits septicCounty (with conditions)

  Septic systems for residences inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana (Boone County Health Department, Environmental Division, Lebanon)

  • The septic application certifies that systems will meet requirements of the Boone County Health Department in compliance with Boone County Commissioners ordinance #2012-04.
  • The form states that the Environmental Division is at 116 W. Washington Street, Suite B201, Lebanon, IN 46052 (765) 483-4458.
  • Health-department service area was not stated in the page opened; county-wide scope is inferred from the form.

  “i hereby certify that the above information is correct and that sewage and drainage systems for this residence will be installed to meet requirements of the health department of boone county, indiana in compliance with the boone county commissioners, ordinance #2012-04.”

• Septic permitRequired

  New residential septic systems for homes inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Septic permit comes from the Boone County Health Department environmental division.
  • The form covers new construction; a separate septic repair procedure exists.
  • Soil borings are required for new or repaired septic systems per the county health department summary; not verified on an official page here.
  • Commercial septic permit is a separate fee.

  residential septic permit fee: 100 USD (plus $150 application fee) · commercial septic permit fee: 200 USD · application fee: 150 USD

  “application for well and septic permits new construction”

• Septic inspectionRequired

  New residential septic systems inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana, before the final building inspection

  • A satisfactory septic inspection (including alarm checks) and a satisfactory water test must be on file with the health department before the final building inspection is scheduled.
  • Inspection standards themselves were not reviewed.

  “a satisfactory septic inspection (including alarm checks) and satisfactory water test must be on file with the boone county health department prior to scheduling your final building inspection.”

• Off-grid sanitationLimited

  Lots without public sewers inside unincorporated Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Lots without public sewers must be at least 2 acres under the county lot-area rule.
  • A septic permit and satisfactory septic inspection through the county health department are required (see septic claims).
  • Composting, incinerating or other non-septic sanitation was not addressed in the sources reviewed.

  minimum lot area without public sewers: >= 2 acres

  “2 acres in all districts without public sewers, and 3 acres in the re district”

• Well permitRequired

  New water wells for homes inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Application is combined septic/well for new construction; well-only and well-pump-only permits also appear on the fee block.
  • Water test requirement appears in the inspection note.
  • Well driller registration requirements were not verified on an official page.

  well and pump permit fee: 60 USD (plus $150 application fee) · well-only permit fee: 30 USD (plus $150 application fee)

  “application for well and septic permits new construction”

• Mandatory utility hookupConditional

  New homes on lots inside unincorporated Marion township, Boone County, Indiana, under the county residential standards

  • Public water and public sewer connection is required in all districts for lots that are less than one acre in size.
  • Lots of one acre or more are not covered by this connection sentence; the ordinance sets 2 acres for lots without public sewers.
  • Utility connection is also required for major residential subdivisions with 15 lots or more.
  • A separate statement in the multi-family table section reads 'public water & public sewer connection required in all districts for all development'; its reach to single-family lots is unclear and needs confirmation.
  • No distance-to-sewer or availability rule was located.

  “with or without public public water & public sewer connection: required in all districts for lots that are less than one acre in size. utility connection: required for major residential subdivisions with 15 lots or more.”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Creating new residential lots on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Lots created after 31 December 1998 in the agricultural district require minor residential subdivision approval by the Area Plan Commission.
  • Major subdivisions go to the Area Plan Commission; the subdivision control ordinance is separate from the zoning ordinance and was not opened.

  “the area plan commission has public hearings on text amendments to the subdivision control and the zoning ordinance, map amendments (rezones), development plan reviews and major subdivision approvals.”

• Driveway accessLimited

  Residential lots using a private access driveway in unincorporated Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • Lots using a private access driveway must have public-road frontage of at least 100 feet of continuous width running the depth of the lot.
  • Up to 20% of lots in major subdivisions may reduce road frontage by up to 20%.
  • Driveway length limit and separate-driveway rules were not fully extracted.

  minimum road frontage for private-driveway lots: >= 100 feet (in major subdivisions up to 20% of lots may reduce frontage by up to 20%)

  “road frontage: all residential lots utilizing a private access driveway for access shall have frontage on a public road. the minimum width of that frontage is 100’ of continuous width which extends the depth of the lot.”

• Building in a floodplainRequired

  Development in mapped floodplain areas on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

  • The Area Plan Office administers the floodplain ordinance adopted from the State of Indiana and keeps official maps of 100-year, 500-year and no-special-flood-hazard areas.
  • Specific floodplain permit standards and elevation requirements were not extracted.

  “the boone county area plan is also responsible for administering the floodplain ordinance adopted from the state of indiana.”

• Permit feesPublished (with conditions)

  Septic and well permit fees for new construction inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana (Boone County Health Department)

  • Building (improvement location) permit fees were not located on the pages opened; fee schedule link on the Area Plan Office page was not opened.
  • Fees come from the form's fee block; mapping of labels to amounts follows the form's order.

  application fee: 150 USD · residential septic permit: 100 USD · commercial septic permit: 200 USD · well and well pump permit: 60 USD · well only permit: 30 USD · well pump only permit: 30 USD

  “application fee: residential septic permit: commercial septic permit: well & well pump: well only: well pump only: application for well and septic permits new construction fill out completely – application will not be processed unless all information is filled in. $150 _____ $100 _____ $200 _____ $60 _____ $30 _____ $30”

• Permit processPartial

  Permit process for unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana (Area Plan Office, 116 W. Washington St., Suite 101, Lebanon)

  • Area Plan Office accepts petitions and issues building and improvement location permits; the office handles floodplain administration.
  • Agricultural-district homes require TAC review and subdivision approval first, which adds steps and delay.
  • Step-by-step checklist, timelines and the Area Plan fee schedule were not opened.

  “accept and review petition filings for the boone county area plan commission, boone county plat committee, and boone county board of zoning appeals.”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana
• Building code adopted — Residential building code applied to new homes on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana (R1 and AG)
• Lot coverage — Maximum lot coverage for R1 and AG on unincorporated land inside Marion township, Boone County, Indiana

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.