ADU Pass
Thurston
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Thurston, Fairfield County, Ohio navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
Fairfield County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Fairfield County (county seat Lancaster; ~162,000 residents in central Ohio, in the Hocking Hills foothills southeast of Columbus) regulates land use in unincorporated areas primarily through township-tier zoning under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 519, with the Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission (FCRPC, codified locally under Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners and ORC § 713.21 et seq.) providing professional planning, subdivision review, and contract-zoning administration for thirteen townships that have adopted FCRPC services. Ohio is a Dillon's Rule state with home-rule for charter municipalities under Ohio Const. Art. XVIII; counties in Ohio may not directly zone unincorporated territory (with the narrow Lake County and Summit County exceptions under ORC Chapter 303), so Fairfield County's role is advisory + administrative rather than a county-tier zoning code. The Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission acts as zoning inspector under contract for Berne, Bloom, Greenfield, Hocking, Liberty, Madison, Pleasant, Richland, Rush Creek, Violet, Walnut, and certain other townships; each township's zoning resolution remains the operative ADU instrument. ADU permissibility, owner-occupancy, parking, and size limits are set in the individual township zoning resolution, not in any county-wide ordinance. The FCRPC publishes a model zoning resolution and assists townships with text amendments; recent (2023-2025) FCRPC commentary has flagged ADU/in-law-suite as an emerging issue but no model ADU text has been adopted county-wide.
State-floor overlay: No Ohio statewide ADU preemption is in force as of 2026-05-20 (see ohio.json stateAduLaw). Authority over ADU permissibility rests with each township and incorporated municipality.
County regulatory overlays
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.
ZIP Code
- 43157
Post Office
- 8053 High St, 43157