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

Rules another office applies inside Laurel Township

Laurel 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

  Structures and land-use changes in unincorporated land inside Laurel township. This is an improvement location permit under the zoning code, not a building permit under a building code.

  • Permit is issued by the county Executive Director of the Area Plan Commission, per the zoning code.
  • The code does not state that a building (construction) permit is issued here; building-code permits are unverified.
  • Barns and agricultural buildings still require an improvement location permit under the code.

  “no structure may be erected, altered or placed, or no use of land may be changed, unless an improvement location permit has been obtained from the executive director”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Unincorporated land inside Laurel township, Franklin County, Indiana, under the county Area Zoning Code (A-1, R-1, R-2, R-3, G-B and other districts); county districts apply here because no Laurel township zoning was located

  • Franklin County zoning code jurisdiction covers unincorporated territory and the territory of the incorporated towns including Laurel; a town board may waive or add rules within its own town (incorporated businesses exemption, section 80.01.02).
  • Districts are listed in the code as published text; the zone map is referenced by the code and was not opened.

  “r-1 single-family residence district this district, although very suitable for agricultural uses in many locations, is designed to also permit low density single-family residential development”

• Manufactured homesAllowed

  Manufactured or mobile homes as a permitted use in the A-1 agricultural district in unincorporated land inside Laurel township

  • Lot and yard standards for the A-1 district still apply.
  • Septic and flood plain requirements still apply.
  • R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts also list manufactured homes as permitted uses; their lot standards were not read in full.

  “a. permitted uses. 1. agricultural use 2. single-family dwelling 3. manufactured or mobile home”

• Agricultural exemptionConditional

  Farm buildings used for commercial agriculture in unincorporated land inside Laurel township

  • Farm houses and farm dwellings, including the dwelling for the farm owner, operator or farm assistants, are not exempt.
  • Barns and agricultural buildings remain subject to zoning and flood plain requirements and still require an improvement location permit.
  • The exemption from the building code rests on Indiana law, as the code states.

  “where agriculture is pursued for commercial gain, farming operations are exempt from the restrictions and regulations of the building code.”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Subdivision of land in unincorporated land inside Laurel township

  • Subdivision sanitary sewage must be a public collection system connected to a town sewer, a local treatment system, or the third procedure in the code, in that order of preference.
  • Plans are approved by the county highway supervisor in unincorporated territory, per the code.

  “the subdivider shall provide the subdivision with sanitary sewage facilities in accordance with one of the three following procedures”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder construction of a home inside Laurel township
• Building code adopted — Building code adopted for new homes inside Laurel township
• Inspections — Building inspections for new homes inside Laurel township
• Local zoning — Land inside Laurel township, Franklin County, Indiana: whether Laurel township itself adopts and administers a zoning ordinance
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size for homes inside Laurel 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.