Arcanum

Darke County, Ohio (rural farming county on the Indiana border in western Ohio; ~51,881 residents per the 2020 census, ~51,520 estimated 2025; county seat Greenville; 20 townships - Adams, Allen, Brown, Butler, Franklin, Greenville, Harrison, Jackson, Liberty, Mississinawa, Monroe, Neave, Patterson, Richland, Twin, Van Buren, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, York; one city (Greenville) and 14 villages including Ansonia, Arcanum, Bradford, Burkettsville, Castine, Gettysburg, Gordon, Hollansburg, Ithaca, New Madison, New Weston, North Star, Osgood, Palestine, Pitsburg, Rossburg, Union City, Versailles, Wayne Lakes, and Yorkshire) is in the minority of Ohio counties that DOES exercise county-tier zoning powers under O.R.C. Chapter 303 - via a hybrid model. The Darke County Planning & Zoning Department (520 S. Broadway, Greenville; Zoning Inspector Kaitlin Higgins; 937-547-7381) directly administers township zoning resolutions for 9 of the 20 townships (Adams, Brown, Butler, Harrison, Jackson, Liberty, Neave, Wabash, Wayne) plus the Village of Wayne Lakes. Five townships (Franklin, Greenville, Monroe, Twin, Van Buren) administer their own township-tier zoning resolutions under O.R.C. Chapter 519, typically through a contracted zoning inspector. Six townships (Allen, Mississinawa, Patterson, Richland, Washington, York) remain unzoned, where the township trustees provide administrative approvals for building-site eligibility but no zoning permit is required. The county Planning & Zoning Department also serves as the countywide Floodplain Coordinator and administers the Darke County Subdivision Regulations for all unincorporated areas. Critically for ADU applicants: a Darke County Zoning Permit (issued by either the county Planning & Zoning Office or the self-administering township) must be in place BEFORE a state-side building permit is issued, regardless of which township the parcel sits in.

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