New Paris, IN

Neither Indiana nor Elkhart County sets a short-term-rental parking ratio. Guests park under the same zoning and residential rules as any household, and IC 36-1-24 lets the county add only reasonable standards.

Elkhart County limits the number of guests allowed in short-term rental properties. Occupancy caps are typically based on bedroom count or square footage to protect neighborhood quality of life.

Elkhart County may require hosts to carry liability insurance for short-term rental properties. Minimum coverage amounts vary by jurisdiction.

Indiana Code 36-1-24 bars Elkhart County and its cities from banning short-term rentals in residential zones. The county Area Plan Commission has adopted no STR-specific registration; rentals run as a permitted residential use.

Elkhart County sets no rental-specific noise rule; STR guests obey Chapter 94 like any resident. Sound plainly audible 50 feet away after a warning, or over 83 dBA at 15 feet, is prohibited.

Elkhart County levies an innkeeper's tax on lodging rented under 30 days under IC 6-9-19, on top of Indiana's 7% state sales tax. A 2024 law raised the county's ceiling to 8% from 5%.

Consumer fireworks are legal statewide under Indiana Code 22-11-14 for adults 18 and older, and no Elkhart County community can ban them. What the county and its cities do control is the hours and dates you may set them off, and those windows are enforced.

Elkhart County has no defensible-space or brush-clearance mandate around homes. Overgrown lots are handled as a property-maintenance nuisance, and burning the brush you cut is the step that draws real regulation under Indiana open-burning rules.

Indiana designates no regulatory wildfire hazard zones, and Elkhart County has no wildland-urban-interface building code or defensible-space mandate. Temporary open-burning restrictions during drought are the only wildfire-driven limit here.

A backyard fire pit is treated as a recreational fire under IDEM rules that the Elkhart County Health Department enforces. Burn only clean, dry wood, keep it attended, and never use it to dispose of trash or yard waste.

Open burning in Elkhart County follows Indiana IDEM rule 326 IAC 4-1. Burning household trash, plastic, and construction debris is always illegal; clean yard waste may be burned in a vented container with conditions, and it must be out before sunset.

Indiana sets no statewide street-parking time limit, so rules come from the cities and from IC 9-21-16 clearance requirements. Lake-effect snow makes winter parking bans a real factor in Elkhart and Goshen, where posted snow routes must be cleared for plows.

Installing a home Level 2 EV charger in Elkhart County requires an electrical permit and inspection from the relevant building authority. Indiana has no statute barring HOAs from restricting chargers, so subdivision covenants can still limit placement.

In the RV Capital of the World, storing your own camper is common, but the rules split by location. Unincorporated Elkhart County zoning is fairly open, while the cities of Elkhart and Goshen restrict where an RV, boat, or trailer may sit on a residential lot.

Indiana's abandoned-vehicle law, IC 9-22-1, lets police tag and tow vehicles left on public property, and inoperable or unplated junk vehicles left in view on private land are separately cited as a nuisance by city and county code enforcement.

Vehicles parked in a driveway may not block the public sidewalk, and city lots generally require parking on a paved or improved surface rather than the front lawn. Connecting a new driveway to a county road needs a Highway Department permit.

The cities of Elkhart and Goshen restrict parking heavy commercial vehicles, semi-tractors, and trailers in residential zones, while unincorporated county land and farms accommodate work trucks more freely. State size and weight limits apply on public roads.

There is no countywide overnight-parking ban, but the cities of Elkhart and Goshen impose overnight and snow-route restrictions, especially in winter when lake-effect snow triggers emergency parking orders that clear streets for plowing.

In the City of Elkhart, front and corner-side-yard fences top out at 4 feet unless they are split rail, wrought iron, or open picket at least 40 percent open; anything over 6 feet needs a permit. Unincorporated county fences follow county zoning.

The City of Elkhart requires a permit for any fence over 6 feet; standard residential fences under 6 feet generally need none. Unincorporated county fences are reviewed by Elkhart County Planning and Development. Call Indiana 811 before digging post holes.

No Indiana statute limits residential fence materials, so wood, vinyl, aluminum, wrought iron, and chain-link are all allowed across Elkhart County. Zoning regulates height and placement instead, and barbed wire and electric fencing are treated as agricultural.

A retaining wall over 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing, needs a building permit and engineered design under the Indiana Residential Code. Shorter unloaded walls are exempt. Elkhart County and city building officials enforce it.

Indiana's partition-fence law makes adjoining landowners share a boundary fence proportionally, central to Elkhart County's Amish farm country around Middlebury, Nappanee, and Millersburg. If a neighbor refuses their share, you may build, give notice, and recover the cost.

Every residential pool in Elkhart County must be enclosed by a barrier at least 4 feet high, about 48 inches, with self-closing, self-latching, lockable gates. The rule comes from the Indiana Residential Code and is enforced by local building officials.

Indiana bans no dog breed and has no law preempting one, so the state is silent on breed rules. Elkhart County, Goshen, and Elkhart regulate dogs by individual dangerous behavior, not by breed, so no pit bull ban exists here.

No Elkhart County ordinance broadly bans backyard bird feeding, but Indiana DNR rules restrict deer feeding, and feeding wildlife that creates a nuisance or draws rabies-vector animals near homes can be curbed locally. Songbird feeders are generally allowed.

Elkhart County requires 3 contiguous acres of agricultural zoning to keep livestock; smaller lots need a Special Use Permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals, usually capped at 12 hens with no roosters. Goshen allows 6 hens by free permit.

Indiana has no statewide leash law, so Elkhart County and the cities of Elkhart, Goshen, and Nappanee each require dogs restrained and set running-at-large rules. Statewide, an owner is strictly liable when their dog bites someone acting peaceably where they may lawfully be.

Beekeeping is legal across Elkhart County and treated as agriculture. Indiana requires no state hive registration, though the DNR offers voluntary registration and inspects for disease. Recklessly disturbing another person's hive is a Class B misdemeanor.

Indiana bars keeping many wild and exotic animals without a state permit. Under Indiana Code 14-22-26 and DNR rule 312 IAC 9-11, possessing a protected or dangerous wild animal needs a DNR permit. No Elkhart County community can authorize these.

No Indiana statute and no Elkhart County ordinance limits trimming trees on your own land in unincorporated areas. You may prune freely. The cities of Elkhart and Goshen control only the trees between curb and sidewalk.

Indiana sets no statewide lawn-watering ban, and water-rich Elkhart County rarely restricts irrigation. Any limits come from your water provider during a drought, not from a county ordinance or the flow of the St. Joseph and Elkhart Rivers.

You may remove trees on your own land in unincorporated Elkhart County without a county permit. Indiana has no statewide tree-protection law and the county has no removal ordinance. Only the cities of Elkhart and Goshen regulate their curb-strip trees.

Rainwater harvesting is legal and unregulated throughout Elkhart County. No Indiana statute limits collecting rain, and the county has no ordinance. Rain barrels and cisterns for the garden are allowed everywhere.

No Indiana statute and no Elkhart County ordinance governs artificial turf. In unincorporated areas you may install it freely. HOA covenants are the main limit, and riverfront or low-lying lots may face stormwater or drainage review.

In unincorporated Elkhart County, plant life over 8 inches on a residential parcel of 3 acres or less violates the county's Weed and Rank Vegetation Control Ordinance (No. 2013-220), enforced by the Planning and Development Department.

Two layers apply: statewide, IC 15-16-8-3 requires every Indiana landowner to destroy detrimental plants; locally, Elkhart County's Weed and Rank Vegetation Control Ordinance caps plant life at 8 inches on unincorporated residential parcels of 3 acres or less.

No Indiana statute or Elkhart County ordinance restricts native or drought-tolerant planting. You may replace lawn with prairie species or a pollinator bed, and the county's weed ordinance exempts cultivated landscaping and gardens from its 8-inch limit.

Home occupations in unincorporated Elkhart County may display only a small, non-illuminated sign under the county Zoning Ordinance's home-occupation standards; storefront-style commercial signage is not allowed. Within Elkhart, Goshen, Nappanee, and Middlebury, each city's sign…

In unincorporated Elkhart County, a home occupation is an accessory use allowed in residential and agricultural districts under the county Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Planning and Development Department in Goshen. Inside Elkhart, Goshen, Nappanee, and Middlebury, each…

The Elkhart County Zoning Ordinance expects a home occupation not to generate traffic, parking, or activity beyond a normal residential level. Seasonal roadside stands are a recognized feature in agricultural areas. Elkhart, Goshen, and Nappanee apply their own home-occupation…

Indiana's Home Based Vendor law lets you sell non-potentially-hazardous homemade foods, like baked goods and jams, direct to consumers with no permit or health inspection. Eggs and whole uncut produce sold at a roadside stand or farmers market are exempt too.

A home daycare for pay in Elkhart County must be licensed by Indiana's FSSA Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning. State licensing controls whether the daycare may operate; the county's role is limited to zoning and building compliance.

Unincorporated Elkhart County has no fixed quiet hours; its around-the-clock ordinance (Chapter 94) treats any sound over 83 dBA at 15 feet, or plainly audible 50 feet away after a warning, as prohibited noise.

Unincorporated Elkhart County sets no protected construction hours. Building noise falls under the same Chapter 94 limits as any sound, though § 94.04 exempts manufacturing in industrially zoned areas, key in the RV Capital.

Elkhart County Code § 94.03 makes keeping any animal whose frequent or long-continued noise disturbs neighbors a prohibited noise, enforced after a termination request. Indiana also imposes strict owner liability under IC 15-20-1.

Indiana has no gas leaf-blower ban, and Elkhart County sets no lawn-equipment hours. Blowers and mowers must simply meet Chapter 94's 83 dBA limit; only agricultural equipment in ag zones is exempt.

Elkhart County § 94.03 makes a radio, stereo, or instrument plainly audible 50 feet away after a warning prohibited noise. Goshen separately bars amplified sound heard past a parcel line from midnight to 7:00 a.m.

In unincorporated Elkhart County a permanent swimming pool is a regulated accessory structure needing an Improvement Location Permit from Planning and Development, plus a building and electrical permit. Only temporary above-ground pools are exempt.

Every outdoor residential pool in Elkhart County must sit behind a barrier at least 48 inches high under the Indiana Residential Code, Appendix G, Section AG105.2. Openings in that barrier cannot pass a 4-inch sphere.

Under the Indiana Residential Code, Section AG105.2, a pedestrian gate in an Elkhart County pool barrier must open outward, self-close, and self-latch. Public and semi-public pools answer to the county Health Department under 410 IAC 6-2.1.

A permanent above-ground pool in Elkhart County still meets the 48-inch barrier of Indiana Residential Code Section AG105.2, though the pool wall can serve as that barrier where it is high enough. Temporary above-ground pools skip the zoning permit.

A hot tub or spa in Elkhart County is regulated like a pool, but Indiana Residential Code Section AG105.5 exempts a spa fitted with a listed ASTM F1346 safety cover from the 48-inch barrier requirement.

Elkhart County allows an accessory dwelling unit only with a single-family home on one acre or more in the A-1 agricultural district. It must run 600 to 1,000 square feet, stay a single story, and the owner must live on site.

A storage shed in Elkhart County that is not on a permanent foundation and is 120 square feet or less skips the zoning permit. Larger sheds need an Improvement Location Permit and must keep five-foot side and ten-foot rear setbacks.

Converting a garage to living space in Elkhart County is a change of occupancy needing a building permit under the 2020 Indiana Residential Code. The county reviews egress, ceiling height, insulation, and smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms.

A carport in Elkhart County is a detached accessory structure needing an Improvement Location Permit and a building permit. It must stand six feet from other structures, five feet off side lines, and ten feet off the rear.

A tiny house on a permanent foundation is legal in Elkhart County if built to the Indiana Residential Code with a 20-foot average width. A tiny house on wheels is a mobile vehicle and cannot be used as a dwelling.

Elkhart County issues no tree-removal permits and cannot require one in unincorporated areas. Permits and management exist only inside the cities of Elkhart and Goshen, and only for trees in the public right-of-way. HOA covenants may add private approval.

Indiana designates no heritage or landmark trees by statute, and Elkhart County protects none in unincorporated areas. The cities of Elkhart and Goshen guard their public canopy, but the county has no equivalent program.

No Indiana statute and no Elkhart County ordinance requires replacing a removed tree in unincorporated areas. Replanting mandates exist only inside the cities of Elkhart and Goshen for public trees, or as a condition in HOA covenants and development approvals.

There are no marijuana dispensaries to zone in Elkhart County. Indiana authorizes no medical or recreational cannabis sales, so no dispensary can lawfully open anywhere in the county. Selling marijuana is a criminal offense under Indiana's controlled-substance laws, not a zoning…

Growing marijuana at home is illegal everywhere in Indiana, including Elkhart County. Indiana has no medical or recreational marijuana program. Cultivating plants is prosecuted as possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor at minimum under IC 35-48-4-11, rising with prior…

Elkhart County publishes no countywide food-truck vending-zone map; where a truck may set up in unincorporated areas depends on the parcel's zoning and the owner's permission. The county's main lever over the truck is health permitting. Cities set their own vending locations.

A food truck in Elkhart County needs a mobile retail food establishment permit from the Elkhart County Health Department and must report to a commissary daily under Indiana's retail food code, 410 IAC 7-24. Cities add their own business licensing.

The cities of Elkhart and Goshen require door-to-door peddlers and solicitors to register for a permit before canvassing within their limits. Elkhart County does not run a peddler-permit program for unincorporated areas. Religious and political canvassing is protected and exempt.

Elkhart County keeps no countywide do-not-knock registry, but a posted 'No Soliciting' or 'No Trespassing' sign is legal notice. A solicitor who ignores it and refuses to leave can be handled as criminal trespass under Indiana law. City lists may also apply.

No county bulk route serves unincorporated areas, so arrange large-item pickup through your private hauler or self-haul to the county landfill on County Road 7. Elkhart city residents schedule bulk pickup through the contracted hauler. Illegal dumping is prosecuted.

Placement rules depend on your provider. In unincorporated areas your private hauler sets set-out times. Elkhart city requires carts within three feet of the curb with two feet of clearance and lids closed, and city code caps a container at 99 gallons.

Unincorporated Elkhart County runs no curbside route, so households subscribe to private haulers like Borden Waste-Away. The county dissolved its Solid Waste Management District in 2020 and now runs the landfill directly. Elkhart and Goshen contract their own city collection.

Indiana has no residential recycling mandate, and unincorporated Elkhart County requires nothing separated. The county's staffed drop-off sites were consolidated and closed, though it keeps a recycling incentive program. Elkhart city provides curbside recycling every other week.

The duty to clear snow falls on abutting property owners inside the cities, not the county. Goshen and Elkhart plow streets and expect residents to keep their own sidewalks clear, real work given lake-effect snow. Unincorporated areas have little sidewalk network.

Neither the county nor Elkhart city licenses residential garage sales, so no permit governs cleanup directly. What is enforceable is the aftermath: merchandise, signs and debris left out afterward can be abated as a nuisance under county Chapter 92 or city Chapter 99.

No countywide rule dictates where unincorporated residents store trash carts between pickups. Elkhart city expects carts stored out of street view and set out only around collection day. Screening rules otherwise come from an HOA or city code, not the county.

Elkhart County enforces property standards in unincorporated areas through its Planning and Development Department under Chapter 92 and Indiana's unsafe-building law (IC 36-7-9). Overgrowth, junk, debris and unsafe structures can be declared nuisances and abated. Cities enforce…

Owners of vacant residential parcels in unincorporated Elkhart County must keep vegetation under eight inches and clear of junk. Under Chapter 92, the county Planning and Development Department can cut overgrowth and haul debris, then bill the owner.

Neither unincorporated Elkhart County nor the City of Elkhart requires a permit for a residential garage sale; there is no county or city garage-sale licensing code. You simply hold the sale, subject to sign rules and property-maintenance limits.

Unincorporated Elkhart County and the City of Elkhart set no cap on how many garage sales a household may hold; neither licenses residential sales. The practical brakes are HOA covenants and the risk that constant selling looks like an unlicensed business.

No county ordinance sets garage-sale hours in unincorporated Elkhart County, and Elkhart city imposes none specific to sales. Daytime hours are customary; the real limits are general noise and nuisance rules and any HOA covenant.

Coastal-development rules do not apply in Elkhart County. This is inland north-central Indiana, with no Lake Michigan frontage. Indiana's Lake Michigan Coastal Program reaches only Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties along the actual shoreline.

Indiana's Construction Stormwater General Permit (CSGP), which replaced the repealed Rule 5 (327 IAC 15-5) in December 2021, governs land disturbance across Elkhart County. Any construction disturbing one acre or more must obtain CSGP coverage before ground is broken.

Erosion control in Elkhart County runs through the Construction Stormwater General Permit. Every site disturbing one acre or more must implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWP3) controlling erosion and sediment before, during, and after construction.

Indiana's Flood Control Act, IC 14-28-1-22, requires a permit from the IDNR before erecting a structure or placing fill in a floodway. The St. Joseph and Elkhart River floodways run straight through the city of Elkhart and downtown Goshen.

The Construction Stormwater General Permit treats clearing, grading, and excavation as regulated land disturbance in Elkhart County. Any site of one acre or more needs CSGP coverage, and the County Drainage Board oversees regulated drains under Indiana's drainage code.

Rooftop solar is permitted throughout Elkhart County. A homeowner needs a county building and electrical permit, licensed wiring meeting the National Electrical Code, and a net-metering interconnection agreement with the serving utility before the system is energized.

Indiana's 2022 solar law, IC 32-25.5-3.5, limits how an Elkhart County homeowners association can restrict solar. An HOA may prohibit or require removal of a solar energy system only for the specific reasons the statute lists.

Political signs are allowed on private property across Elkhart County. The county zoning ordinance and city sign codes treat them as temporary signs with size limits; content-based restrictions are unconstitutional after Reed v. Gilbert. Signs in the public road right-of-way get…

Garage-sale signs are allowed on your own property in Elkhart County as temporary signs under the county zoning ordinance and city sign codes, with size and time limits. Off-premise directional signs in the road right-of-way or on utility poles are prohibited and removed.

Elkhart County does not regulate holiday lights, inflatables, or yard displays on private property, and Indiana has no state law on them. No county permit is needed. Inside a subdivision, HOA covenants set the real limits; cities apply their own codes.

Elkhart County zones unincorporated land through the Area Plan Commission. Front setbacks are measured from the street centerline; the R-1 Single-Family district requires a 50-foot front yard from centerline, 10-foot side yards, and a 15-foot rear yard under Zoning Ordinance…

Elkhart County's Zoning Ordinance caps single-family building height at 30 feet in residential districts, which may rise to 40 feet only if two side yards of at least 15 feet each are provided, under Sec. 4.3.10.

Elkhart County caps building coverage rather than total impervious surface. In the R-1 Single-Family district, primary and accessory structures may cover roughly 30 to 35% of the lot, with minimum lot sizes from 7,200 to 15,000 square feet under Sec. 4.4.

Recreational drone flights over Elkhart County follow federal law 49 U.S.C. § 44809: register drones over 250 grams, pass the free TRUST test, stay below 400 feet, and keep visual line of sight. Airspace near Elkhart Municipal and Goshen airports needs LAANC authorization.

Commercial drone operators in Elkhart County follow FAA 14 C.F.R. Part 107: hold a Remote Pilot Certificate, register the aircraft, stay below 400 feet, and keep visual line of sight. Controlled airspace near local airports requires LAANC authorization.

Indiana sets juvenile curfew by statute statewide, unusual among states. Under IC 31-37-3-2, a child 15, 16, or 17 commits a curfew violation between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on weekends and after 11 p.m. on weeknights.

Elkhart County parks - such as Ox Bow, Bonneyville Mill, and Cobus Creek County Parks - close at posted hours, generally dawn to dusk. Remaining after closing is criminal trespass under IC 35-43-2-2.

Elkhart County has no comprehensive dark-sky or full-cutoff lighting ordinance. Its Zoning Ordinance instead requires parking-area lighting to reflect light away from adjoining residential properties and uses buffering to limit glare on neighbors, under Secs. 7.2 and 7.3.3.

Elkhart County limits light spillover mainly through parking and buffering standards: off-street parking lighting must reflect away from adjoining residential properties, and buffers must mitigate glare from vehicle lights and outdoor lighting on neighbors, under Secs. 7.2 and…

Rent control is illegal across Elkhart County. Indiana Code 32-31-1-20 forbids any unit — the county, Elkhart, Goshen, or any town — from regulating rental rates for privately owned property unless the General Assembly authorizes it. Landlords set and raise rent at market.

Indiana has no just-cause eviction law, and Elkhart County cannot create one. IC 32-31-1-20 bars local units from regulating the landlord-tenant relationship. A landlord ends a month-to-month tenancy with proper written notice, then must win a court judgment to remove a tenant.

Unincorporated Elkhart County has no rental registration program, but its two cities do. Elkhart requires every rental to register and pass inspection under Chapter 161 (Ordinance 6040), and Goshen has registered and inspected rentals for over 25 years under Ordinance 4860.