Akron, OH Accessory Structures: ADU Impact Fees (2026)

Ohio cities operate under Dillon's Rule for impact fees: the General Assembly has not enacted a statewide development impact fee enabling statute analogous to California's Mitigation Fee Act. The Ohio Supreme Court in Home Builders Association of Dayton v. City of Beavercreek, 89 Ohio St.3d 121 (2000), held that any impact fee must satisfy a rigorous rational-nexus test demonstrating that the fee is reasonably related to the costs of public improvements attributable to the new development and roughly proportional to the burden imposed. Very few Ohio municipalities have adopted impact fees meeting this standard, and Akron is not among them. Costs of building a second dwelling unit on an Akron parcel therefore consist of: (1) a zoning compliance review fee through Planning and Urban Development (typically a few hundred dollars); (2) building permit fees calculated on construction valuation under the Akron-adopted Ohio Building Code (OAC 4101:8), plus separate electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits; (3) plan review fees typically a fixed percentage of the building permit fee; (4) Akron Public Utilities water and sewer tap fees if a new service is installed (sharing the existing tap with the principal dwelling avoids new connection charges); (5) Summit County recording fees if any easements or covenants are recorded against title. Summit County does not impose a separate building permit fee on parcels within the City of Akron. School funding: Akron Public Schools is funded through the state foundation formula and local property tax mill rates; there is no school impact fee. Property taxes on the increased assessed value after construction provide the long-term revenue stream to the school district, the city, the county, and the Summit County Library system.