Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Salt Creek Township, Indiana

Rules another office applies inside Salt Creek Township

Salt Creek 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

  Barns and agricultural buildings in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Requires an improvement location permit to confirm agricultural use and compliance with zoning and flood plain rules.
  • This is an agricultural-building rule; permits for dwellings and other buildings were not located.

  “barns and agriculture buildings shall still require and improvement location permit to ensure that the structure is actually for purely agriculture use and that it complies with all zoning requirements (including setbacks) and flood plain requirements.”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  County zone districts (A-1, A-2, R-E, R-1, R-2, R-3, L-B, P-B, G-B, I-1, I-2, FP, HD, WD, UD) that apply to unincorporated land inside Salt Creek township

  • Applies only if Salt Creek township has not adopted its own zoning, which was not verified.
  • The code is adopted by the county. Four incorporated towns (Brookville, Oldenburg, Mt. Carmel, Cedar Grove) may waive or add rules within their limits; Salt Creek is not one of them.
  • Whether Salt Creek township lies wholly within the plan commission jurisdiction was inferred from the code's jurisdiction language and was not stated for the township by name.

  “for zoning purposes, the territory within the jurisdiction of the franklin county plan commission is hereby classified and divided into fifteen (15) districts with the following names and designations”

• Minimum dwelling sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Single-family homes in the A-1 prime agriculture district in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Minimum ground floor area is 900 sq. ft. for a one-story home and 800 sq. ft. for a two-story home (1,440 sq. ft. total), per ordinance 2014-19 passed 11/24/2014.

  minimum ground floor area, one story: >= 900 sq ft · minimum ground floor area, two story: >= 800 sq ft (1440 sq ft total)

  “one story:​ 900 sq. ft. (ordinance # 2014-19, passed on 11/24/2014).​ two story:​ 800 sq. ft. (1440 total)”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  A-1 prime agriculture district (A-2 and R-E share the same requirements per the code note) in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Minimum lot area is 1 acre where no sewer is utilized, or larger if needed for septic fields.
  • Note in the code: all requirements for A-1, A-2 and R-E are the same.

  minimum lot area without sewer: >= 1 acre (larger if needed for septic fields)

  “1 acre, or larger if needed for 1 2 septic fields where no sewer is utilized.”

• Lot coverageDistrict specific (with conditions)

  A-1 prime agriculture district in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  maximum lot coverage: <= 20 percent of lot

  “4. maximum lot coverage: ​ 20% of lot 5. minimum depth of front yard”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  A-1 prime agriculture district in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Section 80.08.04 height restrictions were not read in full; the R-1 height was not located.

  maximum building height: <= 35 feet

  “8. maximum building height:​ 35 feet 9. see section 80.08 additional requirements, including yard and setback, height, parking, and fences.”

• Manufactured homesAllowed

  Manufactured or mobile homes as a permanent single-family use in the A-1 and R-1 districts in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Permitted use in A-1 and R-1 under the county code; subject to the district's minimum lot, dwelling-size and yard rules.
  • Section 80.08.07 (mobile homes, manufactured homes and RVs) and the town exemption were not fully read.

  “2. single-family dwelling 3. manufactured or mobile home 4. additional uses set forth in section 80.05”

• Agricultural exemptionConditional

  Barns and other agricultural buildings in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Exempt from the building code under Indiana law only; still subject to zoning and flood plain requirements and an improvement location permit.
  • Does not exempt dwellings.

  “barns and other agricultural buildings are still subject zoning and flood plain requirements, but are exempt from the building code pursuant to indiana law.”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Division of land and subdivision of land in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Excerpt is from the code's table of contents heading for section 80.10.02; the body of 80.09 and 80.10 was not read.
  • Deed disclosure rules in section 80.09.02 also apply.

  “80.10.02: subdivisions must have approval by the apc a. no plat or replat of a division of land resulting in a subdivision shall be filed with the county auditor and recorded by the county recorder unless it has first been granted final approval by the franklin county area plan commission”

• Driveway accessRequired

  Creating a building site in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • Building sites need legal and irrevocable access to a public road by direct access, a private lane agreement, a subdivision lot, or adjacent parcel access.
  • Unmaintained right-of-ways, abandoned roads and unmaintained township roads do not satisfy the access requirement for creating a building site.
  • Private lane rules are in section 80.08.08, not read.

  “5. for purposes of creating a building site, the "undeniable access" requirement shall not be fulfilled by the use of unmaintained road right-of-ways, abandoned roads, unvacated, but no longer maintained "township roads", or other public ways.”

• Building in a floodplainLimited

  Development in mapped flood hazard areas in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • The code defines development to include installing a manufactured home or an RV on a site for more than 180 days, and filling, grading and building.
  • The permit and standards for flood plain district (section 80.03.15) were not read; this claim does not establish a permit requirement.
  • Applies only to parcels in the FP flood plain district or mapped SFHA.

  RV placement threshold: > 180 days (RV installation counts as development above this period)

  “installing a manufactured home on a site, preparing a site for a manufactured home, or installing a recreational vehicle on a site for more than 180 days”

• Permit processPublished (with conditions)

  Improvement location permits for development in unincorporated Franklin County, including land inside Salt Creek township

  • The code says the procedure is in section 80.11.04; that section was not read, so fees, forms and timing are not stated here.

  “improvement location permits can be found in section 80.11.04”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for a home inside Salt Creek township
• Building code adopted — Which residential or building code is adopted and enforced inside Salt Creek township
• Inspections — Building inspections for new homes inside Salt Creek township
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for a new home inside Salt Creek township
• Local zoning — Whether Salt Creek township itself adopts and administers a township zoning ordinance

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.