A suburban home occupation that meets all performance standards is permitted by right in unincorporated Lake County, so no special home-occupation permit is required, though any building permit for construction still applies. A rural home occupation requires special-exception approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Under UDO 154-9-090.F, suburban home occupations complying with all listed standards are permitted in conjunction with any allowed residential use, meaning no discretionary home-occupation permit is needed. A maximum of one nonresident employee is allowed. Rural home occupations under 154-9-090.G require a special exception approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, are limited to lots of 4.5 acres or more, allow up to 3 nonresident employees, and require accessory-building storage set back 300 feet from adjacent lots. Cities issue their own home-occupation permits.
Conducting a home occupation that exceeds the by-right standards without special-exception approval is a zoning violation subject to Plan Commission enforcement and fines.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lake County, IN
Backyard composting of yard and food scraps is allowed in Lake County and encouraged by the Lake County Solid Waste Management District. A compost pile must ...
Lake County, IN
Lake County has no county-wide ban on artificial turf for residential yards. Installation is governed mainly by local zoning and stormwater rules and, in dev...
Lake County, IN
Native-plant and prairie landscaping is allowed in Lake County, but it must still comply with local rank-vegetation and detrimental-plant rules. Intentional ...
Lake County, IN
Collecting rainwater is legal in Indiana and Lake County imposes no barrel ban. Rain barrels for outdoor irrigation are unrestricted, though any barrel or ci...
Lake County, IN
Lake County, Indiana sets no county-wide day-of-week lawn watering schedule. Northwest Indiana is not a drought-rationing region, and outdoor water use is go...
Lake County, IN
Indiana law makes property owners destroy detrimental plants. IC 15-16-8-1 lists Canada thistle, Johnson grass, Columbus grass, bur cucumber, and shattercane...
See how Lake County's home occupation permits rules stack up against other locations.
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