Kokomo, IN Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Kokomo Code of Ordinances 155.89, Conservation Standards, is an optional incentive inside Chapter 155 Subdivision Control that the Kokomo City Plan Commission administers when it reviews preliminary plats. A subdivider who wants the bonus must first get primary or secondary conservation areas recognized on the preliminary plat; the Plan Commission makes the final call on whether an area counts as primary (unique environmental features such as woodlands, riparian corridors, floodplain or documented animal habitat) or secondary (mostly flat grassy open space). Required lawn areas, landscaped medians, bufferyards and cul-de-sac islands do not qualify no matter how they are landscaped.

To lock in the incentive, the subdivider must reserve at least 10% of the total plat area as a conservation easement. For primary conservation areas the reduction formula is the percent of plat area conserved plus 6%, applied to lot area, width and setbacks; for secondary conservation areas it is the percent conserved plus 3%. Either way, the maximum reduction in lot standards cannot exceed 35%, and the minimum distance between primary structures stays at ten feet regardless of how much bonus is claimed. The conservation easement itself must be shown and labeled on the recorded plat, and the subdivision's covenants must state that no structures may ever be built inside the easement.

Because Chapter 157's dimensional tables for the joint Kokomo-Howard County Unified Development Ordinance are not reproduced in the printed city code, this section is the only place in the Kokomo Code itself where a numeric density or dimensional trade-off for conservation is spelled out.