ADU Pass
Licking County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Licking County, Ohio navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 16 cities and 20 ZIP codes in this county.
Map
County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Licking County (county seat Newark; ~180,000 residents in east-central Ohio, immediately east of Columbus / Franklin County) has NOT adopted a county-tier zoning resolution under O.R.C. Chapter 303. As a Dillon's Rule state with the home-rule amendment (Ohio Const. Art. XVIII), Ohio counties may not zone unincorporated territory unless they affirmatively adopt a county zoning resolution by board action and (in most cases) public referendum; Licking County has never done so. Land use in unincorporated Licking is therefore set entirely by individual township zoning resolutions under O.R.C. Chapter 519. Twenty-three of the county's twenty-five townships have adopted zoning resolutions, several driven by spillover development pressure from the Intel 'Silicon Heartland' semiconductor megafab under construction just over the county line in Jersey Township, Franklin County; the remaining townships (historically Mary Ann Township and a small number of others) are unzoned, meaning ADU permissibility there is essentially unregulated by zoning (still subject to county building code, septic, and floodplain administration). The Licking County Planning Commission (LCPC) provides subdivision review, GIS, and advisory planning services but does not enforce a county-tier zoning code. ADU permissibility, parking, owner-occupancy, and size limits are set by each township's resolution or by each incorporated municipality (City of Newark, City of Pataskala, City of Heath, City of Reynoldsburg portion, Village of Granville, Village of Hebron, Village of Buckeye Lake, Village of Johnstown, Village of Alexandria, Village of Hanover, Village of Kirkersville, Village of Saint Louisville, Village of Utica, Village of Gratiot).
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.
Adopting body: Licking County Board of Commissioners (general administration); Licking County Planning Commission (advisory subdivision and planning); individual township trustees adopt the operative zoning resolutions
County assessor
Assessment policy: The Licking County Auditor (Ohio uses elected County Auditors as the property-assessment authority under ORC § 5713.01) assesses real and personal property. Ohio assesses real property at 35% of true value (ORC § 5713.03). Licking County's sexennial reappraisal cycle (Ohio mandatory schedule under ORC § 5715.16) most recently completed in 2023, with the triennial update due in 2026. The 2023 reappraisal produced unusually large valuation increases countywide (most parcels saw 30-50% increases, driven by the Intel-anchored land-price runup in the southwestern county), which triggered widespread Board of Revision appeals and political pressure on the legislature for property-tax reform. New ADU construction is reassessed at true value as of January 1 following completion; the appraiser visits or uses building-permit notification from the county building department. Ohio's Owner Occupancy Credit (ORC § 323.151 et seq.) gives a 2.5% reduction on the owner-occupied homestead tax bill; the Homestead Exemption (ORC § 323.151) shields $26,200 of taxable value (as adjusted for inflation under HB 85 in the 2025-2026 cycle) for owners 65+ or permanently and totally disabled (income-qualified at ~$38,600 OAGI). An ADU rented to a non-family tenant typically carves a non-homestead share of valuation off the homestead credit base, allocated by the auditor on a square-footage or use-share basis at the time of building-permit close-out.
County overlays (5)
Known county issues (6)
- other — Per-township variation is the norm. Western townships under Intel spillover pressure (Etna, Harrison, Jersey, Saint Albans, Monroe) have actively-amended zoning that often includes ADU-relevant text. Eastern and northern townships (Hopewell, Hanover, Mary Ann, Bowling Green, Eden, Hartford) have older or absent resolutions that typically read as ADU prohibitions by silence where zoned, and as unregulated by zoning where unzoned. In unzoned townships, ADU permitting reduces to building code, septic, and floodplain administration only; zoning is not a constraint.
- other — Western Licking County ADU research has a much shorter freshness half-life than eastern: ordinances and fee schedules in Etna, Harrison, Jersey, Saint Albans, Monroe, and Pataskala may revise multiple times per year during 2026-2028. Researchers should re-verify any western-county ADU rule against the township's current website and any recent trustee meeting minutes before relying on cached research.
- other — ADU research for Licking-side Buckeye Lake parcels (Village of Buckeye Lake, Walnut Township, Union Township shoreline) must cross-reference BLRWSD capacity rules and ODNR Cranberry Bog buffer policy in addition to local zoning. Fairfield-side and Perry-side parcels are addressed by their respective counties' research.
- other — City-tier research for Newark and Heath must address the Newark Earthworks designation and the related design-review processes. The county role is limited to ensuring that any federally-funded county action (CDBG, ARPA-funded improvements, federally-assisted housing) goes through the appropriate Section 106 path.
- other — Researchers must consult each village's ADU rules irrespective of which county a particular parcel sits in. The authoritative Centerburg city-adu-research belongs under city-adu-research/ohio/knox-county/centerburg.json; the Gratiot and Utica research can reasonably live under either county's directory provided the cross-county mirror is noted. Population-weighted Licking County aggregates should be discounted appropriately for the Knox/Muskingum shares of these three villages.
- policy-review — Researchers should monitor the Ohio General Assembly for any future ADU preemption proposal; until one passes, Licking County's ADU framework remains the patchwork sum of twenty-five township resolutions (with several unzoned) plus fourteen municipal codes (the City of Newark, City of Pataskala, City of Heath, and the eleven villages listed in countyOrdinance.scope).
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.