Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Seelyville, Indiana

Town of Seelyville’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  All land inside Seelyville town limits, under the Unified Zoning Ordinance of Vigo County as adopted by the Seelyville town board (joint county-city ordinance, not a stand-alone Seelyville code)

  • The Seelyville effective-date line in the ordinance is blank ('3. within the corporate boundaries of the town of seelyville on;'), so no adoption or effective date is stated for Seelyville in the copy opened.
  • Planning and zoning are administered by the Vigo County Area Planning Department / Area Plan Commission, which the ordinance says exercises zoning functions for Seelyville; the town itself does not appear to run a separate zoning office.
  • Copy opened is the October 21, 1996 text posted by Vigo County; later amendments were not checked.

  “in adopting this ordinance, the board of commissioners of the county of vigo, the common council of the city of terre haute, the town board of riley, the town board of seelyville, and the town board of west terre haute act for the purpose of:”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning districts and maps for land inside Seelyville town under the Vigo County unified zoning ordinance

  • Residential districts are listed in Section 11 (R-S, R-1, R-2, R-2M, R-3, R-3H, R-T); the R-S and R-1 districts are the main single-family districts recorded here.
  • Official Seelyville zoning map is incorporated by reference but its map contents were not opened.
  • Seelyville effective-date line is blank in the copy opened.

  “the town of seelyville zoning maps; the town of west terre haute zoning maps; the vigo county zoning maps”

• Minimum dwelling sizeSpecified

  Single family residential district (R-1), Section 11.02, inside Seelyville town

  • Minimum main floor area excludes garage, carports and open porches.
  • For buildings greater than one story, 400 sq ft minimum floor area with a total floor area of at least 900 sq ft.

  minimum main floor area, one-story building: >= 900 sq ft (excludes garage, carports, open porches)

  “h. minimum main floor area - exclusive of garage, carports and open porches: 1. one story building - 900 sq. ft. 2. greater than once-story - 400 sq. ft., provided that the total floor area shall be at least 900 sq. ft.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single-family residential suburban district (R-S), Section 11.01, inside Seelyville town

    “h. minimum main floor area - exclusive of garage, carports and open porches: 1.one story building - 900 sq. ft. 2. greater than one story - 400 sq. ft., provided that the total floor area shall be at least 900 sq. ft.”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Single family residential district (R-1), Section 11.02, inside Seelyville town

  • Minimum lot width at front setback is 50 ft and minimum street frontage is 25 ft.
  • Sewer and water attachment is mandatory for single-family subdivisions platted after the ordinance's effective date.

  minimum lot area: >= 5500 sq ft (single-family subdivisions platted after the effective date must attach to sewer and water)

  “d. minimum lot width and street frontage 1.minimum lot width at minimum front setback - 50' 2.minimum street frontage - 25'”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single-family residential suburban district (R-S), Section 11.01, inside Seelyville town

    “c. minimum lot area 1.with sewers - 20,000 sq. ft. 2.without sewers - 20,000 sq. ft., provided, however, minimum lot area may be increased depending on soil conditions and requirements of the vigo county health department.”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Single family residential district (R-1), Section 11.02, inside Seelyville town

  • Front setback along minor or local street is 25 ft; 30 ft sub-collector, 40 ft collector, 60 ft arterial.
  • Accessory building setbacks: rear 10 ft, side 5 ft.

  front setback, minor or local street: 25 ft (30 ft sub-collector, 40 ft collector, 60 ft arterial) · rear setback, principal building: 25 ft · side setback, principal building: 5 ft

  “f. minimum rear yard and setback - shall be provided from the property line as follows: 1.principal use building - 25' 2.accessory use building - 10' g. minimum side yard and setback - shall be provided from the property line as follows: 1.principal use building - 5' 2.accessory use building - 5'”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single-family residential suburban district (R-S), Section 11.01, inside Seelyville town

    “f. minimum rear yard and setback - shall be provided from the property line as follows: 1. principal use building - 25, 2. accessory use building - 10, g. minimum side yard and setback - shall be provided from the property line as follows: 1. principal use building - 5' 2. accessory use building - 5'”

• Lot coverageSpecified

  Single family residential district (R-1), Section 11.02, inside Seelyville town

  • Minimum vegetative cover 30%.

  maximum lot coverage by principal building: <= 35 percent

  “i. lot coverage 1.maximum coverage by principal building - 35% 2.minimum vegetative cover - 30%”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single-family residential suburban district (R-S), Section 11.01, inside Seelyville town

    “i. lot coverage. 1.maximum coverage by principal building - 30% 2.minimum vegetative cover - 40%”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Mobile home use inside the R-S single-family residential suburban district in Seelyville town

  • Mobile home appears only as a special exception use under Section 18, not a permitted use.
  • Mobile home is not clearly the same as a manufactured home; the special exception standards were not opened.
  • R-1 also lists 'mobile home' as a special exception; not separately quoted.

  “special exception uses (subject to the provisions of section 18). bed & breakfast child care home that is not used as the primary residence of the person who operates the child care home golfcourse group home mobile home public pool utility substation”

• Mandatory utility hookupConditional

  New single-family homes and subdivisions inside Seelyville town under the Vigo County zoning ordinance (R-S and R-1 districts)

  • Mandatory sewer and water attachment is stated only for single-family subdivisions platted after the ordinance's effective date and for multifamily projects; an individual lot house is not clearly required to connect.
  • R-S purpose: connection is expected under most circumstances, but not mandatory where facilities are more than 300 feet from the property line.
  • Town sewer-connection ordinance, if any, was not located; the Seelyville ordinances page lists no sewer chapter.

  distance from public sewer where connection is not mandatory (R-S): > 300 ft (R-S district purpose only)

  “under most circumstances, public water and sewer facilities should be present but are not mandatory if the facilities are more than threehundred (300) feet from the property line.”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Seelyville

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

• Septic permitRequired

  A dwelling inside Seelyville town that will not connect to a sanitary sewer: a construction permit is required before a residence, manufactured or mobile home, or residential outbuilding with plumbing is built or placed

  • Applies only where the dwelling will not be connected to a sanitary sewerage system; sewered homes fall outside this permit.
  • The permit is signed by the health officer. Vigo County Health Department handles on-site sewage licensing per its county page, but that page does not state that its service area includes Seelyville town; unverified.
  • Construction proceeds only after the permit is issued.

  “for any dwelling or place of residence that will not be connected to a sanitary sewerage system, the owner or agent of the owner shall obtain a written construction permit, signed by the health officer, for construction of a residential on-site sewage system prior to the: (1) start of construction of a residence; (2) placement of a manufactured home, modular home, or mobile home;”

• Off-grid sanitationLimited

  A dwelling inside Seelyville town that cannot or does not connect to a sanitary sewer

  • Such a dwelling must have an on-site system with a septic tank and soil absorption system, not a free-standing off-grid option.
  • Temporary holding tanks are allowed only in listed circumstances (410 IAC 6-8.3-52(e)-(f)); not quoted here.

  “any dwelling that is not connected, or cannot be connected, to a sanitary sewerage system shall be provided with a residential on-site sewage system that includes a septic tank and a soil absorption system that has not failed”

• Permit processPartial

  Zoning and improvement location permit process for land inside Seelyville town, handled through the Vigo County Area Planning Department

  • The ordinance assigns the duties; the permit application steps, fees and forms were not found in the opened text.
  • Section 5 Permits and Section 4 administration details were not opened.

  “receive and review all applications required by this ordinance; issue improvement location permits; and number and file all certificates of use and occupancy”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Seelyville or Vigo County directly.

• Building permit — Whether a building permit is required for a new home inside Seelyville town
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for Seelyville town
• Building code adopted — Which building code applies to new homes inside Seelyville town
• Inspections — Building inspections for new homes inside Seelyville town
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for a new home inside Seelyville town

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.