Building permits, zoning and land rules in Scioto County, Ohio

Scioto County appears to have no county residential building department, so no single county office issues residential building permits¹. Ohio's residential code is uniform wherever a certified department exists, and plan approval depends on whether a certified municipal, township or county department has jurisdiction over the parcel¹⁰. If none does, the owner is not required to submit residential plans; if one does, plans go to that department before covered work begins².

We could not confirm which department serves a given unincorporated parcel, so ask the township and the Scioto County commissioners before treating a project as permit-free. Where a certified department has jurisdiction, a new home cannot be occupied until its building official issues a certificate of occupancy or completion; where none does, the Residential Code does not require that certificate¹¹. Nonresidential buildings follow separate state approval and occupancy rules^2,12.

No verified county office answers every residential building-permit question; the certified department, if any, depends on the parcel's jurisdiction, so start with the township or municipality². A certified department may inspect only the building types and subjects for which it is certified¹⁰. Where it applies, the owner must notify the department when work is ready for inspection, and work may proceed to the next required inspection if inspectors do not respond within 4 days, excluding weekends and legal holidays¹¹.

Building authority does not move septic or wells. The Scioto County Health Department issues household septic permits throughout the county and offers site and soil evaluations at 612 6th Street, Suite D, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662; call 740-355-8358³. The board of health also issues private-well permits⁴. For driveway culverts and right-of-way work on county roads, the Scioto County Engineer is at 602 7th Street, Room 401, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662, (740) 355-8265^6,13.

Scioto County itself has no countywide zoning that we could confirm; zoning is set by townships and municipalities. Like most counties around it in Ohio, Scioto County has no county zoning¹. The County Engineer publishes zoning documents for Clay and Valley townships, and its mapping service shows Portsmouth and Clay Township layers while warning that the inventory is incomplete^1,14. The Village of New Boston has its own zoning code¹⁵. Septic and wells for every address stay with the county health department³.

Ask the parcel's township or municipality about permitted uses, setbacks, lot size, dwelling size and RV occupancy. Township zoning generally cannot prohibit agriculture or require a zoning certificate for an agricultural building, with exceptions in platted, small-lot areas⁷. The separate building-code exemption for agricultural structures applies when the zoning inspector issues a certificate declaring the structure agricultural, and it does not waive zoning, subdivision, septic or health rules⁸.

The Scioto County Health Department is the first contact for installing, altering, replacing or abandoning a sewage treatment system, and a permit is required before construction or repair begins³. A site review comes first, covering the application and fee, soil evaluation, system design and any incremental replacement plan¹⁶. After installation, the board of health inspects the system and again no later than 12 months after approval¹⁶. New or altered systems are enrolled in the department's operation-and-maintenance program¹⁷.

Soils make early testing important: only 0.7% of county land is rated not limited for a conventional drain field, so expect a site evaluation and possibly an engineered system¹⁸. Ohio has no permit-free alternative: all sewage must go to an approved system or a sanitary sewer, and a private system generally cannot be sited where a sewer is accessible¹⁹. If a county sewer later becomes available, connection and abandonment of the private system are required²⁰.

We could not confirm a Scioto County rule that allows or bars long-term occupancy of one RV on an ordinary private parcel. Ohio's temporary park-camp limits, 21 days per calendar year, apply to land used for parking at least 5 recreational vehicles or camping units, so they do not answer the single-RV question⁵. Ask the township or municipality about zoning and occupancy before relying on an RV while you build.

We also could not confirm a countywide tiny-home or minimum-dwelling-size rule, because local zoning varies¹. Where a certified residential building department has jurisdiction, occupancy waits for its certificate of occupancy or completion¹¹. A qualifying permanently sited manufactured home must be allowed where the township or municipality permits single-family homes, though uniform zoning and deed restrictions may still apply²¹.

1. Identify the township or municipality and get its current zoning rules¹.
2. Ask which certified residential building department, if any, serves the parcel².
3. Order the septic site and soil evaluation early^16,18.
4. Apply to the Scioto County Health Department for the septic permit before construction³.
5. Apply to the board of health for the private-well permit⁴.
6. For a county-road driveway, get the County Engineer's permit and set stakes showing the location when you apply^6,13.
7. Where building approval applies, schedule inspections and obtain the certificate of occupancy or completion before moving in¹¹.

Check septic feasibility first: only 0.7% of Scioto County land is rated not limited for a conventional drain field¹⁸. Terrain matters too, since 34.8% of county land has a slope of 15% or less and 77.1% is wooded¹⁸.

Access comes next. A driveway must be present before a parcel can receive a new address, and county-road driveways need a culvert permit; if a culvert is required, the owner furnishes it, at least 15 inches in diameter and 30 feet long^6,13. A county-road permit does not cover state, township or private roads¹³.

If you plan to split a parcel, a division along an existing public street of no more than 5 lots, with no new street, can be approved without a plat by the planning authority⁹. Otherwise a division creating a parcel under 5 acres is generally a subdivision; we could not confirm which authority administers that rule locally²². In mapped Zone A flood areas, construction and manufactured-home placement need floodplain review; the local administrator could not be confirmed²³. The typical effective property-tax rate is about 1.1%, and the median annual bill is about $1,417¹⁸.