Zoning in Washington County, Iowa

What "rescinded" actually means here

Washington County is one of a handful of Iowa counties that has affirmatively rescinded a zoning ordinance it once had, rather than simply never adopting one under Chapter 335. The county's ordinance took effect July 1, 2010, and the Board of Supervisors rescinded it on September 27, 2013 -- documented on a county webpage titled, without ambiguity, "Zoning Ordinance (Rescinded on September 27, 2013)." The stated practical effect is direct: a County Zoning Permit is no longer required for any uses or building projects in the unincorporated areas of the county. There is no zoning-district map to consult, no rezoning or conditional-use-permit process to navigate, and no county ordinance setting use restrictions, lot coverage limits, or district-specific setbacks anywhere outside an incorporated city's own limits.

For a buyer used to other Iowa counties -- or other states generally -- this is a genuine departure from the norm. Most Iowa counties retain county zoning under Chapter 335 of the Iowa Code, dividing the unincorporated county into agricultural, residential, and other districts with permitted and conditional uses spelled out for each. Washington County simply doesn't have that layer of review anymore. That can be a real advantage if your plans include a use that would trigger a conditional-use permit or variance fight elsewhere -- but it cuts both ways, since a neighbor's plans face the same absence of county-level use restriction.

What still applies despite the rescission

Three things specifically survived the 2013 rescission and remain fully in force. First, Chapter 45, the county's Subdivision & Platting Ordinance -- originally adopted May 12, 2005 and amended as recently as September 19, 2024 -- still governs any division of land in the unincorporated county, administered by a Subdivision Coordinator with preliminary-plat review by the Land Use & Planning Commission before the Board of Supervisors acts. Zoning and subdivision are legally separate mechanisms under Iowa law, and rescinding one does not touch the other. Second, the county's Floodplain Management Ordinance remains in effect and is administered by Planning & Development independent of zoning status -- if a parcel falls within a mapped flood hazard area, floodplain development permit requirements still apply regardless of the absence of zoning. Third, the county maintains a "Rural Building & Development Permits" process for certain projects; depending on what you're building, permits tied to well/septic systems, entrances, or other specific triggers may still be required even though no zoning permit is.

On top of all three, state law fills part of the gap zoning would otherwise cover. Iowa Code section 335.30 requires that a manufactured or modular home be located and installed according to the same standards -- including a permanent foundation system, setback, and minimum square footage -- that would apply to a site-built single-family dwelling on the same lot. Electrical work is separately regulated and inspected under state statute (Iowa Code Chapter 103) rather than through a county zoning permit. In a county with no local zoning ordinance to specify lot-by-lot setbacks, this state standard functions as the practical baseline; it does not, however, replace the subdivision, floodplain, or rural building permit processes described above.

What this means in practice

Before treating "no zoning" as "no process," confirm directly with Washington County Planning & Development ((319) 653-7710) which of the surviving ordinances applies to your specific project: a subdivision or lot split runs through Chapter 45 and the Land Use & Planning Commission; a parcel near the English River or its forks needs a floodplain determination; a manufactured or modular home placement needs to meet Iowa Code 335.30's foundation and setback standards; and certain other building projects may still need a Rural Building & Development permit. None of these processes require the kind of zoning-district lookup or conditional-use review that a fully zoned Iowa county would require, but none of them disappeared in 2013 either -- only the zoning ordinance itself did. If a lender, title company, or future buyer asks for a zoning determination letter, Planning & Development can confirm in writing that no county zoning applies, which is often exactly what that kind of request is actually checking for.