Lynchburg

Highland County, Ohio (south-central Ohio Appalachian-fringe county on the dissected glacial-till to unglaciated-plateau boundary; ~43,400 residents; county seat Hillsboro; seventeen townships - Brushcreek, Clay, Concord, Dodson, Fairfield, Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, Madison, Marshall, New Market, Paint, Penn, Salem, Union, Washington, and White Oak - and incorporated places Hillsboro (city), Greenfield (city, partly in Highland and partly in Ross County), and villages Leesburg, Lynchburg (partly in Highland and partly in Clinton/Brown), Mowrystown, Sinking Spring (partly in Highland and partly in Adams), and Highland) 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 only a small minority do (Lake County is the canonical example), and Highland County is not among them. The Highland County Planning Commission handles subdivision plat review under O.R.C. § 711.10 for unincorporated parcels under Subdivision Regulations adopted in December 2005, plus parcel splits and adjoining-land matters, but does not regulate use or density. Townships in Highland County may adopt township-tier zoning under O.R.C. Chapter 519; as of 2026-05, township zoning coverage in Highland County is partial - the Hillsboro-fringe Liberty and New Market Townships and Greenfield-fringe Madison and Paint Townships are most likely to carry a township zoning resolution, while several outer southern and western townships (Brushcreek, Whiteoak, Concord, Dodson, Penn) operate without township zoning. Where neither county nor township zoning exists, an unincorporated parcel is effectively unzoned for land-use purposes; the Ohio Residential Code (OAC 4101:8) still governs construction standards for any dwelling, including an ADU, and the Highland County Health Department still governs septic permits under OAC 3701-29, but there is no local zoning prohibition on a second dwelling on a parcel. ADU permissibility in unincorporated Highland County therefore turns on (1) whether the parcel is in a township with zoning, (2) whether the parcel is inside Hillsboro, Greenfield, or one of the villages (in which case city/village zoning applies; Hillsboro's certified building department issues its own permits), and (3) whether the parcel can support a second septic field under OAC 3701-29 capacity rules. Highland County straddles the Wisconsinan glacial limit; northern townships sit on flat to gently rolling till plain while southern townships descend into the dissected Appalachian Plateau with shallower soils and steeper grades, materially affecting septic feasibility for a second dwelling.

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