Hancock County processed more permits in 2025 then it did in 2024, while permits for single-family homes also increased, according to the annual report of the Hancock County Building & Planning Departments.
The report was presented Tuesday at the Hancock County Commissioners meeting.
The department issued 753 permits in 2025, with 244 of them being labeled accessory/alteration, 177 electric, and 158 new single-family dwellings. This is an increase from 2024’s total of 721 permits and 2023’s total of 739 permits.
The 158 single-family permits for last year eclipse 2024’s total of 146 permits for new single-family dwellings, as well as 2023’s total of 129 permits.
County planning director Kayla Brooks told commissioners that with the average value of accessory/alteration permits increasing from $51,000 to $74,000, that amounts to nearly $18 million of investments to already-existing homes in Hancock County.
“So that’s people that weren’t selling and moving or by putting into new houses, but were actually investing back into existing homes in Hancock County,” she said.
There was an estimated cost of $282 million in improvement of all types in Hancock County in 2025.
Eighty-seven single-family permits in 2025 were issued in either Sugar Creek or Buck Creek townships, with Center Township home to 32 issued permits. The estimated value of a new single-family home in Hancock County rose to $482,462, an 11% increase from last year.
The county issued permits for 108 multi-family units in 2025 as part of the Whitman Villas development at the Hancock Gateway planned unit development district, which, once completed, would be geared toward young professionals.
The report states the total value of these permitted units is 20 million.
The county’s plan commission reviewed 20 petitions in 2025, with zone map amendments making up half of the petitions. Out of these 10, just four were approved, something the report cites as an effect of the county’s comprehensive plan, adopted in 2023.
One of those zone map petitions, a request to rezone 775 acres of agricultural land to a planned unit development in Buck Creek Township with the goal of building a data center, was withdrawn by the petitioner before the commission considered it.
“This was often not an easy task, and a low approval rate should not be seen as a downfall of the Plan Commission, but rather as an indication of trust in the comprehensive plan and in the future of Hancock County,” according to the annual report.
Similarly, Hancock County Area Board of Zoning Appeals reviewed 40 petitions last year, with a 76% variance rate. Half of the petitions heard last year were special exceptions, of which one of them was approved.
Brooks said several lawsuits involving the county’s planning department have “soaked up” the division in legal fees. She said this is why the county planning department is considering raising its fees, with a focus on the fees of industrial land use petitions.
“Hopefully we can match up with the building department and at least cover our costs a little bit better,” she said.
Last year, the county instituted impact fees to help fund parks and recreation efforts with collection beginning this February. The county also closed a loophole that allowed power generation on agricultural land through a special exception.
On the building department side, the department conducted 1,860 inspections in 2025, slightly higher than the 1,815 inspections performed in 2024. Building official Scott Williams said this averaged out to about seven inspections a day between him and his building inspector. Of these inspections, 35% involved residential construction, 31% involved accessories or alterations, and 18% were commercial.