ADU Pass
Clermont County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Clermont County, Ohio navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 15 cities and 19 ZIP codes in this county.
Map
County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Clermont County, Ohio (~210,000 residents; eastern suburban county of the Cincinnati metropolitan area; county seat Batavia (village); 14 townships including Batavia, Franklin, Goshen, Jackson, Miami, Monroe, Ohio, Pierce, Stonelick, Tate, Union, Washington, Wayne, and Williamsburg; incorporated villages Batavia, Bethel, Chilo, Felicity, Moscow, Neville, New Richmond, Newtonsville, Owensville, Williamsburg; cities Loveland (multi-county; mostly Hamilton) and Milford (mostly in Clermont); plus the dissolved village of Amelia which voted to dissolve in 2019 and reverted to Pierce and Batavia townships) does NOT operate a countywide zoning ordinance and has not adopted county-tier zoning under O.R.C. Chapter 303. Ohio is a home-rule state under Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution; counties may adopt county zoning under O.R.C. Chapter 303 but most do not (Lake County is the canonical Ohio county that does), and Clermont County is among the majority that have not. Land-use authority in unincorporated Clermont County is therefore delegated to township-tier zoning under O.R.C. Chapter 519. Unlike most rural Ohio counties, Clermont's suburban-Cincinnati townships have ROBUST township-tier zoning resolutions in force - Union Township (Eastgate area), Pierce Township, Miami Township, Goshen Township, and Batavia Township all administer comprehensive zoning resolutions because the urbanized I-275 / SR-32 / SR-125 corridors generate sustained development pressure. The rural eastern and southern townships (Tate, Monroe, Franklin, Ohio, Washington, Wayne) tend toward looser or partial zoning. ADU permissibility in unincorporated Clermont County therefore turns on (1) which township the parcel sits in and that township's specific zoning resolution, (2) the parcel's zoning district within that township (most R-1 / R-2 districts permit one principal dwelling per lot and do not list ADU as a permitted accessory use, requiring a variance from the township Board of Zoning Appeals), (3) septic capacity under Ohio General Health District / Clermont County Public Health rules (OAC 3701-29), and (4) floodplain status under the county's 2012 floodplain regulations administered through Permit Central. The county's primary land-use role is operating Permit Central, a one-stop residential building-permit office certified by the Ohio Board of Building Standards that serves the entire county including villages and most townships under inter-governmental agreements.
County assessor
Assessment policy: The Clermont County Auditor (Linda L. Fraley, 2026) is the elected property-assessment authority under O.R.C. § 5713.01. Ohio assesses real property at 35% of true value (O.R.C. § 5713.03). New ADU construction is added to the parcel record on the next regular revaluation cycle and reassessed at true value as of January 1 following completion; Clermont County's most recent full sexennial reappraisal was 2023 with a triennial update in 2026. The Ohio Owner Occupancy Credit (O.R.C. § 323.151 et seq.) provides a 2.5% reduction in tax on owner-occupied homestead; the Homestead Exemption (O.R.C. § 323.152) reduces taxable value by $25,000 for owners 65+ or totally and permanently disabled, subject to income tests. Clermont County administers Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) under O.R.C. § 5713.30 - § 5713.38 for parcels that qualify, primarily in the rural eastern and southern townships (Tate, Monroe, Franklin, Wayne, Williamsburg); an ADU built on a CAUV parcel may trigger a partial recoupment if the dwelling reduces qualifying agricultural acreage below program thresholds. Under O.R.C. § 5713.17, the owner must notify the Auditor of any construction or improvement valued over $2,000. The Clermont County Auditor's GIS / parcel portal is unusually capable for an Ohio county, integrating zoning overlays, floodplain layers, soil maps, sewer service boundaries, and tax-district data on a single interface - useful for ADU feasibility pre-screening.
County overlays (5)
Known county issues (5)
- other — Researchers must verify the specific township for any Clermont County parcel before assessing ADU feasibility. The suburban townships' robust zoning is the principal regulatory barrier; the county Permit Central process is fast and predictable once township zoning is cleared.
- other — ADU applicants in Clermont County have a fast, mature, local construction-permit pathway once township zoning is cleared. This compares favorably to most other Ohio counties and is a significant administrative advantage. The remaining bottleneck is almost always the township zoning step, not the building permit.
- other — Consumers should not attribute Cincinnati's or Loveland's full populations to Clermont County. Of Clermont's ~210,000 residents, the largest jurisdictions actually inside the county are unincorporated suburban townships (Union Township ~50,000, Pierce Township ~17,000, Miami Township ~46,000, Goshen Township ~17,000) which are aggregated at the township level, plus the city of Milford (mostly inside Clermont, ~6,876) and the villages.
- other — Researchers projecting ADU build cost in Clermont County should not use a single county-wide cost band. The suburban / rural split materially changes the binding constraints (zoning vs. septic) and the realistic cost stack.
- policy-review — Researchers should monitor the Ohio General Assembly for any future ADU preemption proposal; until one passes, Clermont County's regulatory posture is set by 14 township and 12 municipal zoning regimes administered separately, with Permit Central providing the unifying building-permit pathway.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.