Porter County, IN Ordinances (2026)

Porter County does not require every pet be sterilized, but Sec. 4-12(f) mandates spay or neuter at the owner's expense before the county animal shelter will release an animal on its…

Porter County requires microchipping only for repeat offenders: Sec. 4-12(f)(1) mandates a microchip implant, at the owner's expense, before the county animal shelter releases an…

Porter County's Unified Development Ordinance bars any animal hospital from operating as a home occupation in a residential zoning district, no matter how small the practice…

Porter County allows backyard poultry and livestock as "hobby farming" under the Unified Development Ordinance, but caps the use at 40% of the lot and bars it from being a primary…

Porter County does not ban dogs by breed. Instead, Sec. 4-8 of the Animal Control Ordinance lets county animal control declare any individual animal "dangerous" based on its bite…

Sec. 4-9 of Porter County's Animal Control Ordinance bars owners from letting a dog run at large and requires every dog be "confined or under restraint" at all times, with fines…

Unlike dogs, cats may roam free in Porter County if spayed or neutered, and feral "colony" cats are protected once ear-tipped. Sec. 4-13 lets county animal control run…

Porter County bans pet shops from selling or offering for sale any dog, cat or rabbit under Code Sec. 12-282, adopted July 24, 2023. A pet shop may host animals for adoption only if a…

Porter County adopts the Indiana Electrical Code (675 IAC Article 17) by reference for all electrical work, and no structure or improvement, including electrical installations tied to…

Porter County treats elevators and lifts installed inside a private residence as unregulated lifting devices under state law, but still requires them to meet incorporated ANSI/ASME…

Porter County enforces the Indiana Plumbing Code (675 IAC Article 16) by reference, and plumbing work performed as part of a structure's construction or alteration requires a building…

Porter County Sec. 6-54 flatly bans construction without a valid permit from the building commissioner obtained before work begins, and Sec. 6-56 conditions issuance on a complete…

Sec. 6-88 gives Porter County's building commissioner standing authority to inspect any construction, permitted or not, at any reasonable time, and Sec. 6-89 has the building…

Porter County requires at least one operational carbon monoxide detector in every new Class 2 residential structure with a fireplace, attached garage, or fossil fuel-burning appliance…

Porter County bans knowingly drinking or possessing an open, broken-seal or partly emptied alcohol container inside a motor vehicle operating on any public road in the unincorporated…

Porter County bans skateboarding, rollerskating, rollerblading, biking or riding any nonauthorized wheeled device on the walks, drives, patios, steps, ramps and parking garages of…

Porter County makes it unlawful for anyone to remain or loiter on the public Burlington Beach Accessway to Flint Lake between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. under Code Sec. 14-44(a), unless…

Porter County's stormwater ordinance, Chapter 20 of the county code, bars illicit discharges and illegal connections into the county-controlled storm drainage system, gives MS4…

Porter County requires a Floodplain Development Permit before any construction, filling, or land alteration inside a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area. UDO § 5.19 FP-01(B)(3)-(4) bars…

New or substantially improved residential structures in Porter County's flood hazard areas must set the lowest floor, including the basement, at or above the Flood Protection Grade…

Porter County requires an Erosion Control Permit under UDO Section 7.15 (EC-01) before any land-disturbing activity of 10,000 square feet or more begins, whether for a subdivision…

Porter County bans parking on the paved portion of any county-maintained street or highway after a snowfall of two inches or more until the roadway is cleared, under Code § 24-130, and…

Porter County makes it unlawful to park a truck, trailer, or commercial-type motor vehicle on the paved portion of a street or highway inside a residentially zoned subdivision outside…

Commercial and industrial buildings in Porter County must provide loading berths sized to gross floor area under the UDO's loading standards, with berths tucked onto the least visible…

Porter County requires every driveway and off-street parking area to be paved with concrete, asphalt or brick pavers. UDO § 5.35 PK-01 bans gravel, stone, dirt, sand and grass as…

Porter County's UDO bans storing unlicensed or inoperable vehicles in the front or side yard of any property, with a narrow exception for licensed auto repair shops mid-service. The…

Porter County requires every tattoo and body piercing facility to hold an annual permit from the county health officer before opening. Operating without one is unlawful under County…

Porter County flatly excludes automobile, motor vehicle, or equipment painting and repair of any kind from the list of allowed home occupations. UDO § 5.21 HO-01(G)(2) bars the use…

Porter County requires an Improvement Location Permit before any sexually oriented business opens, and UDO § 5.44 SX-01 forces a 1,500-foot buffer between the business and any other…

Porter County requires a building permit from the county building commissioner, issued through the Department of Development and Stormwater Management, before erecting a solar energy…

Porter County sets maximum building height per zoning district on the two-page layout tables in UDO Chapter 2, not as one countywide number, per § 5.20 HT-01(A)-(B). Chimneys, church…

Porter County does not set one countywide yard setback: UDO § 5.42 SB-01 ties every front, side and rear minimum to the specific zoning district's own standards page in Chapter 2, a…

Porter County sets impervious surface coverage limits district by district in the two-page zoning tables of UDO Chapter 02, as directed by Section 5.09 (DI-01). In the R1 Low Density…

Porter County zones its unincorporated farmland A1 (General Agriculture) under the 2007 Unified Development Ordinance, permitting crop production, orchards, vineyards, tree farms and…

Porter County's home occupation rule bars any home-based business from generating more vehicle traffic than would normally occur in the neighborhood. UDO § 5.21 HO-01(C)(3) sets that…

A Porter County home occupation may display just one non-illuminated sign, capped at two square feet, mounted on the primary structure. UDO § 5.21 HO-01(E) bans any offsite sign or…

Every home-based business in Porter County needs a Certificate of Zoning Compliance and must be run by a resident from inside the dwelling under UDO § 5.21 HO-01. The ordinance bans…

Along Primary and Secondary Arterial road frontages in the county's Arterial Roadway Overlay District, developers must plant a fixed count of shade, ornamental and evergreen trees in a…

Porter County's UDO protects trees by size, not species: any tree with a trunk diameter of twenty-four inches or greater is a 'Specimen Tree' entitled to construction fencing and root…

Porter County declares any building found unsafe after inspection to be a public nuisance that must be repaired, rehabilitated, demolished or removed, enforcing the state Unsafe…

Porter County treats a garage sale sign as a "standard temporary sign" under UDO section 5.47 (SI-02), capping it at 5 square feet per side, 4 feet tall, and requiring it come down…

Porter County's Unified Development Ordinance caps permanent window signs in its Office and Institutional, Moderate Intensity Commercial, and Industrial districts at twenty square feet…

Porter County's Unified Development Ordinance flatly bars electronic and lighted text on the changeable-copy signs it permits: Section 5.49 SI-04(A)(1)(g) allows manually placed…

Porter County lets residents post political signs without a permit under UDO § 5.46 SI-01(O), but caps them at six feet tall and 32 square feet, bars any lighting, limits display to 30…

Every solid waste hauler in unincorporated Porter County must offer curbside recycling to residential customers at least every two weeks under Code § 18-84(b), cannot discount…

Porter County runs no separate yard-waste pickup program in the unincorporated county. Under Code § 18-82, licensed residential haulers must collect only "de minimus amounts" of yard…

Porter County's recycling and waste reduction district operates drop-off recycling sites for county residents only, and Code § 18-120 bans nonresidents, non-recyclable materials…

Porter County requires every outdoor dumpster, compactor or trash receptacle to sit on a paved slab and be enclosed on all sides by a wood, brick or stone screening wall or fence at…

Companies collecting residential refuse in unincorporated Porter County must offer curbside recycling to every customer at least once every two weeks under Code Sec. 18-84, may not…

Porter County requires any company running a residential trash service in the unincorporated county to collect bulk items along with regular refuse and limited yard waste, under Code…

It is unlawful in unincorporated Porter County to place or dump garbage, trash or other waste on public or private property outside an authorized dump under Code Sec. 18-2. A first…

Anyone cutting into or tunneling under Porter County right-of-way, including for private utility or driveway work, must get a road-cut permit from the county highway department before…

Porter County restricts consumer fireworks to specific dates and hours under County Code Sec. 14-96, allowing use only around Independence Day and New Year's Eve. Discharging outside…

Porter County's Unified Development Ordinance requires native landscaping only inside the Scenic Roadway Overlay (SRO) District: UDO §3.09(C)(1)(d) says landscape materials there…

When a developer opts into Porter County's UDO tree-conservation credit, no tree with a trunk over six inches DBH or evergreen over eight feet may be cut from the designated…

Porter County requires an Improvement Location Permit before building any residential fence or wall, but a landscape or retaining wall stays exempt if it is under five feet tall and…

Porter County's residential fence standard, UDO Section 5.16 (FW-02), bans barbed wire, razor wire, security wire, electrified wire, sharpened top spikes, and refuse or nuisance…

Porter County's residential fence rule, UDO Section 5.16 (FW-02), caps front-yard fences and walls at 3 feet and side- or rear-yard fences at 6 feet. Fences also cannot rise above 2.5…

Porter County requires an approved Improvement Location Permit (Fence) before erecting a residential fence or wall, under UDO Section 5.16(G). Landscape or retaining walls under 5 feet…

Porter County treats a residential swimming pool as an accessory structure, so it falls under Unified Development Ordinance Sec. 5.04 AS-01(E), which subjects pools to both the UDO and…

Porter County treats a billboard as an 'outdoor advertising sign' under UDO Chapter 12, so any lighting on it must meet the countywide illumination standard in § 5.46 SI-01(C): no…

Every outdoor light fixture regulated under Porter County's Unified Development Ordinance must be full cutoff and fully shielded, and ground-mounted up-lighting aimed at building…

Porter County's UDO caps light spilling onto a neighboring property line at five lux, with higher limits only where commercial or industrial parcels sit next to similarly zoned land…

Porter County's sign code exempts seasonal decorations from regulation: UDO § 5.46 SI-01(L) states that holiday decorations with noncommercial messages 'shall not be considered a…

Porter County's Unified Development Ordinance requires all landscaping material installed to satisfy the county's planting requirements to be non-invasive, with the Plan Commission's…

In unincorporated Porter County, a dog or other animal that causes serious annoyance or disturbance to a neighborhood through loud, frequent, habitual or continual barking, howling or…

Porter County bars parents and guardians from letting a minor under 18 loiter on the public Burlington Beach Accessway to Flint Lake between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. under Code Sec…

Porter County caps how many sheds and other accessory structures a residential lot may hold, and how big they can be, under UDO Section 5.06 (AS-03). Lots under 10,000 square feet get…