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

Rules another office applies inside Baker Township

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

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Baker township that is not subject to the zoning jurisdiction of Martinsville, Monrovia, Mooresville or Morgantown. Morgan County UDO zoning applies here; this is the county's rule, not a Baker township ordinance.

  • Scope taken from the UDO jurisdiction clause. Baker township is not one of the four excluded municipalities in that clause.
  • Whether Baker township has adopted any separate zoning ordinance was not found; this claim does not establish that it has.
  • Schema limits county scope to district-specific for this rule; the rule-maker is Morgan County.

  “the udo shall apply to all land within the jurisdiction of the morgan county advisory plan commission that are not subject to the zoning jurisdiction of the governmental units of martinsville, monrovia, mooresville, and morgantown.”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts in the Morgan County UDO that apply to land inside Baker township not under a city or town zoning jurisdiction

  • Chapter 3 lists the UDO zoning districts, including AG, RR, R-1, R-2, R-3, B-1 to B-3 and I-1 to I-2.
  • The district map was not opened.

  “chapter 3: zoning districts & use development standards page 22 morgan county unified development ordinance”

• Minimum dwelling sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  R-2 district dwellings in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township; the main single-family district (R-1) structure table was not captured

  • R-2 minimum living area: 950 sq ft single-family; 700 sq ft two-family and single-family attached.
  • R-1, AG and RR minimum living area not captured; see followups.

  minimum living area, single-family (R-2): >= 950 sq ft (R-2 district)

  “minimum living area 950 sq ft: single-family; 700 sq ft: two-family & singlefamily attached”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Main single-family district R-1 in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

  • Minimum lot area with sewer 9,000 sq ft; without sewer 1 acre, subject to health department approval.
  • Cell mapping in the flattened table is inferred from column order.

  minimum lot area with sewer: >= 9000 sq ft (R-1 single-family, with sewer) · minimum lot area without sewer: >= 1 acre (R-1 without sewer, subject to Morgan County Health Department approval)

  “with sewer 9,000 sq ft n/a without sewer2 1 acre 1 acre”

  2 more reviewed findings on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Rural-residential (RR) district in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

    “with sewer 20,000 sq ft 1 acre without sewer2 1 acre 2 acres”

  • District specific (with conditions) — Agricultural (AG) district in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

    “30,000 sq ft 1 acre without sewer2 2 acres 5 acres”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Main single-family district R-1 in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

  • Front yard setback values appear as 25 feet and 50 feet for residential and non-residential; the flattened table does not state which column each applies to.
  • Side and rear setbacks are in the same table and not separately parameterized here.

  “minimum front yard setback 25 feet 50 feet primary structure 10 feet 25 feet”

  2 more reviewed findings on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Rural-residential (RR) district in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

    “primary structure 20 feet 25 feet accessory structure 10 feet 15 feet”

  • District specific (with conditions) — Agricultural (AG) district in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

    “primary structure 25 feet 25 feet accessory structure 15 feet 20 feet”

• Lot coverageSpecified

  Agricultural (AG) district in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

  • Maximum impervious surface coverage 50% in the captured AG table.

  maximum impervious surface coverage: <= 50 % (AG)

  “maximum impervious surface coverage 50% 50% with sewer”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Main single-family district R-1 in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township

    “maximum impervious surface coverage 50% 50%”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  R-2 district structures in the Morgan County UDO area, which includes land inside Baker township; R-1, AG and RR height limits not captured

  • R-2 primary structure 35 feet; accessory structure 25 feet (captured table; column mapping to residential and non-residential not confirmed).
  • Accessory structure may not exceed the height of the primary structure, per the R-2 table footnote.

  maximum height, primary structure (R-2): <= 35 feet (R-2 district)

  “primary structure 35 feet 35 feet accessory structure1 25 feet 25 feet”

• Who permits septicCounty (with conditions)

  Onsite sewage (septic) approvals for land inside Baker township in the Morgan County UDO area

  • Morgan County Health Department runs the septic division and issues septic permits (septic division page).
  • The UDO defers non-municipal sewer approval to the county health department and/or IDOH.
  • The septic division page lists residential onsite sewage systems in state law 410 iac 6-8-3 and a Morgan County septic ordinance; neither was opened.

  “municipal water and sewer are not required for this district, but all nonmunicipal water and/or sewer shall be approved by the morgan county health department and/or idoh.”

• Septic permitRequired

  Septic system installation or alteration on land inside Baker township

  • Permit application is through the Morgan County Health Department septic division.
  • Septic permit fees are on a separate county health page, not opened.
  • Permit requirement is inferred from the county permit application forms listed on the division page; the page does not state the rule in a sentence.

  “application for septic permit- property owner (print form)”

• Off-grid sanitationLimited

  Non-municipal (on-site) water and sewer in the UDO agricultural, rural-residential and R-1 districts inside Baker township

  • Non-municipal sewer and water must be approved by the county health department and/or IDOH.
  • Septic permits are required (see septic_permit claim).

  “municipal water and sewer are not required for this district, but all nonmunicipal water and/or sewer shall be approved by the morgan county health department and/or idoh.”

• Mandatory utility hookupConditional

  New homes in the UDO agricultural, rural-residential and R-1 districts inside Baker township

  • Municipal water and sewer are not required in the AG, RR and R-1 districts; non-municipal water and sewer must be approved by the county health department and/or IDOH.
  • The UDO says municipal water and sewer shall be required for the R-2 district, not for AG, RR or R-1.
  • No distance-to-main or availability rule was found in the opened pages; the rule for when a home must connect is unknown.

  “municipal water and sewer are not required for this district, but all nonmunicipal water and/or sewer shall be approved by the morgan county health department and/or idoh.”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for permits inside Baker township
• Building code adopted — Building code adopted for construction inside Baker township
• Inspections — Building inspections for new homes inside Baker township
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes inside Baker township
• Tiny homes — Tiny home occupancy inside Baker 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.