Wayne County, IN Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

Wayne County Code § 156.004(c) states plainly that 'the owner of the property must reside in either the primary dwelling or the accessory dwelling unit,' making owner-occupancy a condition of the ADU definition itself rather than a separate permit condition layered on afterward. That clause sits inside the same DWELLING UNIT, ACCESSORY or ADU definition that requires a primary single-family dwelling already on the lot under § 156.004(b): an ADU cannot legally exist without an owner-occupied primary home, or with the owner living in the ADU while renting out the main house, but it cannot exist as a pure rental arrangement where the owner lives off-site entirely.

The definition rounds out the compliance picture in § 156.004(l), requiring the ADU to meet all minimum residential code and ordinance requirements for septic, zoning and construction, so a building or zoning inspector reviewing the permit application is checking both occupancy status and the physical standards at once. Practically, this means a Wayne County property owner who wants to rent out both the main house and a detached ADU to two unrelated tenants, with the owner living elsewhere, does not qualify for ADU zoning treatment under this definition; the arrangement falls back on whatever other use classification, such as a two-family or multi-family dwelling, actually fits the districts listed under § 156.004(a).