Tippecanoe County, IN Ordinances (2026)

Tippecanoe County Code § 156.03 declares any unsafe building in the unincorporated county a public nuisance that must be repaired, rehabilitated, demolished, or removed. The county…

Leaving a vehicle on someone else's private property without permission, or parking it where it blocks traffic or creates a hazard on public property, is unlawful in unincorporated…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance requires new or substantially altered buildings that receive or distribute goods by truck to provide off-street loading berths, sized by a…

Building or paving a private driveway onto a county highway in unincorporated Tippecanoe County requires a permit from the County Highway Department, per § 96.16(A). The permit sets…

In unincorporated Tippecanoe County, the Unified Zoning Ordinance treats a stored recreational vehicle, boat, or boat trailer the same as parking. Under UZO 4-1-c(18), that storage is…

When the Board of Commissioners declares a travel watch or travel warning for snow, ice or storm debris, county roadways move under a parking prohibition immediately. No one may park…

Tippecanoe County posts no-parking signs and pavement markings to control stopping, standing and parking on county highways and property, and a vehicle left in a posted zone for 24…

Tippecanoe County caps how big a truck, semitrailer or bus can be before it is illegal to park on any county highway, street or alley. Under Code § 71.01, trucks over 8 feet wide, 10…

Tippecanoe County requires every tattoo, piercing, or body art shop in the unincorporated county to hold a Health Department permit before opening. Permits run one year and can be…

Tippecanoe County flatly prohibits vehicle repair as a home occupation. UZO § 5-5-4(b) names 'automobile, truck or motorcycle service, repair, salvage, customizing or restoration' as…

Tippecanoe County's zoning code lists 'massage establishments (parlors)' (SIC 7299) under its Adult Entertainment Business siting rules, so a massage parlor cannot open within 500 feet…

Tippecanoe County bars any adult entertainment business from locating within 500 feet of another adult entertainment business, a church, a public or parochial school, a library, a…

Unincorporated Tippecanoe County requires a stormwater management permit before land-disturbing construction, under the Comprehensive Stormwater Management Ordinance adopted by…

Tippecanoe County requires a separate permit for every building, mobile home, or man-made change to land within its flood plain control regulations under § 153.04. Chapter 153 covers…

Section 153.07 requires large subdivisions in Tippecanoe County's flood plain, more than 50 lots or five acres, to submit base flood elevation data, and requires every new or…

Tippecanoe County's Vector Control Ordinance puts the Health Officer in charge of abating rats, rodents, and other pests statewide under I.C. 16-41-33. The Health Officer can order a…

Tippecanoe County does not require every food-service worker to hold a certification before starting work. Instead, § 110.085 lets the Health Officer order a food safety education…

Tippecanoe County does not ban or restrict any dog breed by name. Chapter 90 instead defines a "hazardous animal" by conduct, biting or injuring without provocation, and the Animal…

Tippecanoe County treats a free-roaming cat as a "community cat" under § 90.13 unless its owner can be identified by microchip or collar and reclaims it within 24 hours of notice…

Tippecanoe County's animal-control chapter does not cap the number of dogs or cats a household may keep. § 90.03(A)(8) instead bars keeping animals in a quantity the owner cannot…

In unincorporated Tippecanoe County, the Unified Zoning Ordinance treats a veterinary clinic as a use that cannot hide inside an ordinary home occupation. Section 5-5-4(g) lists a…

In unincorporated Tippecanoe County, a resident may keep up to two horses they personally own as an accessory use with no minimum lot size, under Unified Zoning Ordinance section…

Tippecanoe County does not require every pet to carry a microchip. But any owner cited for an at-large, inoculation, restraint, humane-treatment or habitual-offender violation must…

Tippecanoe County does not require every pet fixed. But an owner cited for at-large, inoculation, restraint, humane-treatment or habitual-offender violations, or who owns a hazardous…

Tippecanoe County bans retail pet stores in the unincorporated county from selling dogs or cats outright, adopted as a puppy-mill ordinance in 2024. Stores may only host adoption…

Tippecanoe County owners may not let a dog or other animal run at-large: loose and out of the owner's direct control or physical restraint. Dogs tied on a rope, chain or cable also…

Tippecanoe County caps campaign signs at polling sites to two per candidate or issue, limits size to 36 by 24 inches, and bars placement outside a 24-hour window before and after…

Tippecanoe County requires every garage sale sign, along with sale items and display surfaces, to come down within 3 hours of the closing time listed on the sale permit, under UZO §…

Billboards are generally allowed in Tippecanoe County's GB, I1, I2 and I3 zones, but Footnote 67 to the Unified Zoning Ordinance's Permitted Use Table cuts that out along the county's…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance treats a digital billboard as an "outdoor advertising sign" and limits how fast its message or lighting can flip: no more than once per…

Tippecanoe County enforces plumbing work through the state Indiana Plumbing Code, adopted by reference into the county building regulations at § 151.05(C). Any plumbing installation…

Before issuing a building permit, the Tippecanoe County Building Commissioner reviews the application for code compliance and flood-safety, and voids it if the applicant does not…

Tippecanoe County requires a permit before beginning construction, demolition, or alteration of any building or structure in the unincorporated county. The Building Commissioner issues…

Tippecanoe County enforces the Indiana Electrical Code, Article 17, adopted by reference at § 151.05(D), and charges tiered electrical permit fees set at § 151A.04(D) based on service…

Tippecanoe County does not write its own carbon monoxide detector rule. County Code § 151.05(B) incorporates the Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC Article 14, by reference for every…

Tippecanoe County's only childcare-specific building rule is a fire-safety adoption, not a licensing ordinance. County Code § 151.05(I) incorporates the Indiana Migrant Day Care…

Tippecanoe County makes it illegal to drink alcohol or keep an opened container within reach of anyone riding in a vehicle on any road or right-of-way in the unincorporated county…

A mobile food service or mobile food market operating in unincorporated Tippecanoe County needs an annual Health Officer permit before selling any food, renewed by the anniversary…

Before anyone cuts, digs, trenches, or otherwise disturbs a county highway, street, or its adjacent easement in unincorporated Tippecanoe County, the County Highway Engineer must issue…

Tippecanoe County keeps no do-not-solicit registry, but § 111.08 confines a licensed peddler's or solicitor's activity in the unincorporated county to between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m…

Any hawker, peddler, solicitor, or itinerant vendor going door to door in unincorporated Tippecanoe County must buy a $1 license from the County Sheriff before offering goods or…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance caps building height at 35 feet in its single-family zones, including R1 and R1B, while the R1U townhouse zone allows up to 45 feet and…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance limits how much of a lot buildings can cover, with caps set per residential zone: 30% in the R1 zone, 35% in R1B, 40% in R1C, and up to 80%…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance sets minimum front, side and rear yard setbacks by street type and zone. In the R1B Single-Family Residential zone, buildings must sit back…

A large-scale solar farm site in Tippecanoe County has to be planted and kept free of every species on the Indiana Invasive Species Council's list for the life of the project, a…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance sets numeric noise ceilings by land use in Section 4-10-6: 55 dBA by day and 45 dBA at night at any residential zone line, 60 dBA at…

An owner may not let a dog or other animal make excessively disturbing noise, continued or repeated howling, barking or whining that unreasonably disturbs a neighbor's quiet enjoyment…

Tippecanoe County bars anyone from erecting a residential building or other noise-sensitive structure within 1,500 feet of either side of a runway's extended center line, for one…

Tippecanoe County allows home occupations by right in most zones under UZO § 5-5-2, but only if the operator lives on site, hires no outside employees, and keeps the use invisible from…

A home occupation or rural home occupation sign in unincorporated Tippecanoe County needs no sign permit in the county's residential zones, but the Unified Zoning Ordinance strips it…

In unincorporated Tippecanoe County, a household caring for 6 to 10 children is a licensed 'Child Care Home,' its own permitted primary use under the Unified Zoning Ordinance, not a…

Tippecanoe County caps in-home instruction and counseling businesses at small group sizes: 4 pupils per class or 5 clients per counseling session, and only one session a day, under UZO…

Tippecanoe County's zoning code splits data centers by size: any facility over 10,000 square feet of gross floor area is a 'Large Data Center,' a use category added by Amendment 123…

Tippecanoe County added a "Large Data Center" zoning category through UZO Amendment 123, adopted November 3, 2025, but built in its own expiration date. Footnote 75 to the Permitted…

In unincorporated Tippecanoe County, a Large Data Center is a permitted use in the I1, I2 and I3 industrial zones only under special condition 4-10, which subjects the facility to the…

In Tippecanoe County's I1, I2 and I3 industrial zones, Unified Zoning Ordinance Section 4-10-4 caps light trespass at 0.5 footcandles measured at any residential or RE zone boundary…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance controls glare from auto parking lot lighting rather than imposing a blanket dark-sky code. Section 4-6-15(h) requires fixtures lighting…

Anyone in Tippecanoe County's zoning jurisdiction who wants to rent a dwelling short-term as a transient guest room, transient guest rental, or transient guest house must first get a…

An accessory dwelling unit in unincorporated Tippecanoe County can never be rented as a transient guest house, and if the owner lives in the ADU as their primary residence, the main…

Tippecanoe County has no standalone smoke alarm ordinance. County Code § 151.05(H) incorporates the Indiana Fire Code, 675 IAC Article 22, by reference for the unincorporated county…

Consumer fireworks can only be set off in the unincorporated part of Tippecanoe County that falls within the Census Bureau's adjusted urban area boundary, and only during three fixed…

Large-scale solar farms in Tippecanoe County must plant pollinator-friendly, native vegetation around and under the panels, and the planting plan needs sign-off from a registered…

Tippecanoe County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot, but only in unincorporated rural zones, and only up to half the principal home's ground-floor area, capped at 1,200 square…

Tippecanoe County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in rural zones of the unincorporated area, but caps who can live there: occupancy is limited to a single family, separate…

An accessory dwelling unit in unincorporated Tippecanoe County requires the property owner to actually live on site, in either the main house or the ADU, and to keep that address as…

Tippecanoe County exempts small storage buildings from its building-permit subchapter entirely: § 151.04 excuses any storage building of 120 square feet or less that is not on a…

Tippecanoe County's Unified Zoning Ordinance caps fences and hedges at 42 inches with no setback restriction anywhere on the lot. Anything taller must sit behind the street-frontage…

Tippecanoe County requires prior written approval before anyone holds an event or operates a vehicle in a county park or the fairgrounds outside normal operating hours, under Code §…

Every dumpster serving a commercial, industrial or multi-family project in Tippecanoe County's zoning jurisdiction must be screened from the street and from the first floor of…

At Tippecanoe County's public recycling drop-off sites, only material the receptacle's signage says is acceptable can go inside, and dumping items outside the bin is banned; fines rise…

Tippecanoe County bans dumping garbage, rubbish, or refuse anywhere other than a licensed disposal site, and bans hazardous material dumping outside an approved sanitary landfill…

Tippecanoe County charges a 5% Innkeeper's Tax on gross lodging income at hotels, motels, inns, tourist camps and similar short-term lodging, collected monthly by the County Treasurer…

A large-scale solar farm in Tippecanoe County, defined as a ground-mounted array of ten acres or more built to sell power wholesale or retail, needs a mandatory pre-submission meeting…

Tippecanoe County caps garage sales at two per calendar year per premises, each running no more than 3 consecutive days and only during daylight hours, under UZO § 5-6-2.

Tippecanoe County parks and the county fairgrounds open a half hour before sunrise and close a half hour after sunset, with a full closure window from one hour after sunset to one hour…