Vanderburgh County, IN Ordinances (2026)

Every swimming pool in unincorporated Vanderburgh County must be enclosed by a six-foot impassable fence under Zoning Code Section 17.12.060(B), covering the pool itself, its…

Vanderburgh County requires a building permit before any residential swimming pool is installed, under the general permit rule at County Code Section 15.08.030(A). The joint department…

Owners of vacant and open lots in unincorporated Vanderburgh County can't let trash, debris, garbage, junk, or rubbish accumulate on the property. County Code 8.16.020(B) targets…

Vanderburgh County Code 12.04.070 requires whoever occupies the first floor of a building, or the owner if it's vacant, to clear snow and ice from the abutting sidewalk. If ice is…

Vanderburgh County abates dangerous and neglected buildings in the unincorporated county under its Unsafe Building Ordinance, County Code Section 15.08.180, which adopts Indiana's…

Vanderburgh County requires an Improvement Location Permit before any structure, including a fence, is erected in the unincorporated county. The Area Plan Commission application must…

Vanderburgh County requires any retaining wall six feet or taller to be designed by an Indiana-licensed engineer or registered architect. Timber, post, plank and masonry construction…

Vanderburgh County bars barbed wire, razor wire and electrically charged fences on ordinary residential property. Barbed wire is allowed only above 6 feet and razor wire only above 8…

County zoning caps fences, walls, and hedges within required yard setbacks at three feet on front yards of corner lots, four feet on other front yards, six feet along side or rear…

Vanderburgh County's Animal Control Ordinance makes it a violation for an owner, agent or custodian to let an animal go "at large," meaning off its own property without a leash, or on…

Vanderburgh County has no breed ban: the code expressly states a dog's breed cannot be used to declare it "dangerous," and growling or barking alone is never enough either. Instead…

Vanderburgh County's code does not require routine pet microchipping. The only microchip provision sits in the dangerous-animal chapter: after a hearing finds an animal "dangerous,"…

Vanderburgh County Code 12.24.010(J) bans hunting, molesting, harming, or throwing missiles at any bird, wildlife, reptile, or animal on County Park property, and also bans taking the…

Vanderburgh County has no separate cat license or feral-colony ordinance. Chapter 6.05's Animal Control code defines "Animal" broadly enough to include cats, so a cat off its owner's…

Vanderburgh County confines poultry and livestock raising to its most rural zoning districts. Section 17.20.210's Use Group 18 permits 'animal and poultry raising' only in the A, AIR…

Total lot coverage from every structure on a property, including the house and all accessory buildings, cannot exceed the maximum percentage Zoning Table A sets for that district under…

Table A of the Vanderburgh County Zoning Code sets no maximum building height in the A, R-1, R-2, or R-3 districts, but caps principal structures at 80 feet in R-4 and 150 feet in R-5…

Vanderburgh County Code Section 17.12.050 sets minimum front, side, and rear yard setbacks for every zoning district through Zoning Table A, measured from the property line or the…

Vanderburgh County adopts the Indiana Electrical Code by reference to govern all wiring, panel, and equipment work under County Code Section 15.12.010(A)(4). Electrical work needs a…

Vanderburgh County adopts the Indiana Plumbing Code by reference to govern fixture, sewer, and water-service work under County Code Section 15.12.010(A)(3). Plumbing installation needs…

Vanderburgh County requires every permitted job to be inspected before work is covered, and the joint department of building commissioners must respond to an inspection request within…

Vanderburgh County requires a building permit before any structure, equipment, or sewer connection is installed, constructed, repaired, or altered, per County Code Section…

The County Property Maintenance Code singles out child and day care facilities alongside dwellings for lead-based paint control, requiring peeling or flaking lead paint above set…

Vanderburgh County adopts the Indiana Elevator Code by reference to govern elevator, dumbwaiter, and escalator work under County Code Section 15.12.010(A)(10). Anyone who constructs…

A dock for noncommercial watercraft is allowed countywide as a zoning accessory use, but Section 17.12.070(C) caps how far it can extend: no more than ten feet beyond the waterway…

Vanderburgh County sets its Flood Protection Grade at the FEMA base flood elevation plus two feet of freeboard, and new or substantially improved structures in Zone A or Zone AE must…

Vanderburgh County Code Chapter 15.44 bars any land disturbing activity in the unincorporated county until erosion and sediment control measures are installed and maintained. It…

Any new development, redevelopment or land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Vanderburgh County that adds more than 10,000 square feet of impervious surface must submit an…

Vanderburgh County requires a Floodplain Development Permit before any grading, filling, construction or structural alteration in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area. The Building…

Vanderburgh County caps weed and grass growth at nine inches on any real property in the unincorporated area, improved or not. County Code 8.16.020(A)(1) makes it a violation for the…

Vanderburgh County's weed ordinance caps vegetation at nine inches, but § 8.16.100(A)(1) exempts a "managed natural landscape" of Indiana native plants from that limit if the area is…

Vanderburgh County's solid waste code defines composting as the "controlled and intentional biological decomposition of organic solid waste under aerobic conditions," and its nuisance…

Vanderburgh County bans parking or storing commercial vehicles and equipment on property zoned A, R-1 through R-5, CO-1, CO-2, C-1, or C-2 under Section 17.12.100, unless the vehicle…

Indiana's state parking laws govern county streets by default, but Vanderburgh County's board of commissioners can post no-parking signs on specific roads and requires vehicles to park…

Trucks in Vanderburgh County may stop, stand, or park on a county highway only inside a freight-loading zone established by the board of county commissioners, and only to load or…

Vanderburgh County bans keeping an abandoned, unlicensed, or junked vehicle exposed to public view, whether on public or private property. First offenses draw a written warning; repeat…

Once the Board of Commissioners or the County Highway Department declares a snow emergency, parking is banned on every street marked as a priority snow route. Vehicles left on those…

Vanderburgh County's zoning code, Section 17.24.040, requires off-street parking areas and access drives to have a hard, sealed surface, but carves out an exception for residences and…

Vanderburgh County requires an unlicensed camper or motor home, along with any other automotive vehicle lacking current plates, to sit inside a completely enclosed building if it's…

Vanderburgh County's clean-air chapter is primarily an indoor ban, but it reaches outdoors too: County Code 8.24.020(C) prohibits smoking within ten feet of any enclosed public place…

Vanderburgh County Code 10.60.096 bars anyone operating or riding in a golf cart or off-road vehicle on a public street from carrying an open container of alcohol. The rule covers both…

A towing service that removes a vehicle under Vanderburgh County's abandoned vehicle chapter must staff a 24-hour callback line, accept cash, cards, or certified checks, and release…

Every tattoo parlor and body piercing facility in Vanderburgh County needs a Health Department license, and every tattoo artist or body piercer needs a personal license too. Business…

Adult bookstores, cabarets, theaters, arcades, nude model studios and peep show facilities are zoned Use Group 21 in Vanderburgh County and are permitted only in C-4, M-1, M-2 and M-3…

Vanderburgh County requires every massage business, called a "health club" in the code, to hold a Sheriff-issued permit before operating. Only a physician, an experienced registered or…

County Code § 8.08.030 lets an owner or tenant place standard containers, dumpsters, or weather-resistant bags for temporary solid waste storage on their own property, but the…

Vanderburgh County Code § 8.08.020 bars dumping solid waste onto public or private property, streets, or waterways unless the site is a permitted solid waste facility. Violators face a…

Every dwelling unit in Vanderburgh County must have at least one UL-listed smoke detector on each story, placed no more than 15 feet from any bedroom. Owners install them; tenants keep…

Vanderburgh County doesn't ban open burning outright; instead § 8.12.030 lets the Board of Commissioners declare an "open burning emergency" that can limit or totally ban open fires…

Vanderburgh County Code 12.24.010(U) bans bringing, possessing, or setting off fireworks anywhere on County Park property, with no stated exception. The rule sits in the same…

In Vanderburgh County's R-1 Residential district, a home occupation is only a lawful accessory use if it stays inside the dwelling, uses no more than 25% of the floor area, hires no…

A home occupation in unincorporated Vanderburgh County may display only one sign, capped at two square feet, showing the resident's name and title, and it must be flush-mounted to the…

Vanderburgh County only allows a resident-run preschool or adult day care in a home through a Board of Zoning Appeals special use permit under Special Use 27, capped at 12 people a day…

Any part of a building or accessory that projects over a public street, sidewalk or alley in Vanderburgh County needs an encroachment permit from the Board of County Commissioners and…

Vanderburgh County Code 12.04.040 makes it unlawful to obstruct any public way, including streets, alleys, and sidewalks, without a permit from the Board of Commissioners. The rule…

Rank vegetation and junk that could feed or shelter rodents are banned property-wide in unincorporated Vanderburgh County. County Code 8.16.020(A)(2) and (B)(1) both key their…

Tattoo parlors and body piercing facilities in Vanderburgh County must store used needles in leak-resistant, puncture-resistant, biohazard-labeled containers and dispose of them under…

Vanderburgh County levies an 8% innkeeper's tax on gross lodging income under Code Sec. 3.12.020, on top of the state gross retail tax. Hotels and motels must report and pay the tax…

Vanderburgh County requires every mobile food unit to hold a Retail Food Establishment permit from the County Health Department before operating. The annual permit runs $100 through…

Vanderburgh County lets a homeowner install a rooftop, building, or ground-mounted solar array under 10 acres, used at least partly on-site, without obtaining an Improvement Location…

A commercial-scale solar project in Vanderburgh County, community-scale or large-scale, must go through the Area Plan Commission's Commercial Site Review: Section 17.13.030(I) requires…

An accessory dwelling unit is allowed only on a lot with a single-family home or duplex as the principal use, under Zoning Code Section 17.12.072. It must run 400 to 800 square feet…

A shed or other accessory structure in unincorporated Vanderburgh County must stay subordinate in height and area to the principal home, sit at least two feet from any side or rear lot…

Vanderburgh County lets a lot with one accessory dwelling unit, but the property owner must live in either the principal home or the ADU as a primary residence, sign a compliance…

Vanderburgh County requires the property owner to live in either the principal home or the ADU itself under Section 17.12.072(B)(6). The owner must sign an affidavit filed with the ADU…

Vanderburgh County caps motor vehicle noise at 85 dbA measured 50 feet away, or 90 dbA while accelerating from a stop, on any street, alley, or sidewalk. Modified exhaust systems must…

Vanderburgh County sets minimum habitability standards for every occupied rental in its Property Maintenance Code, County Code Section 15.15.020, covering light, ventilation…

Vanderburgh County caps a garage or yard sale at two per calendar year on any premises in the R-1 through R-5 or CO-1/CO-2 zones, and no single sale under Section 17.12.140(A) can run…

Vanderburgh County requires a Sheriff-issued Event Permit before anyone solicits on a public street or highway, but only registered charitable organizations qualify. For-profit…

Vanderburgh County parks close between midnight and 7 a.m. Section 12.24.010(O) bars anyone from being or remaining on County Park property during those hours unless leasing a Burdette…

Vanderburgh County requires every illuminated sign, including off-premises billboards, to be shielded so its light stays off neighboring properties and roadways. Section 17.26.220(E)…

Vanderburgh County requires that lighting for off-street parking areas outside residential districts be shaded and positioned so it does not glare onto neighboring properties or into…

Vanderburgh County allows electronic message signs, including digital billboards, but locks down how they operate. Off-premises EMS displays must hold each message for at least eight…

Vanderburgh County doesn't set placement, size, or number limits for garage-sale signs, but Section 17.12.140(B) requires every sign put up for the sale, along with any merchandise…

Indiana law strips Vanderburgh County of any power to limit the number or size of political yard signs for the 60 days before an election through the fifth day after it. Section…

Vanderburgh County lets a business cover up to 25 percent of its window area with signage before a sign permit kicks in. Section 17.26.235(A)(6) exempts window signs from the permit…