Elkhart County Plan Commission

What Elkhart County Plan Commission does

Elkhart County Planning & Development is a county government department of Elkhart County, Indiana, operating under the Elkhart County Government parent entity and serving unincorporated areas plus the Towns of Middlebury, Bristol, Wakarusa, and Millersburg. The Cities of Elkhart and Goshen and the Town of Nappanee maintain their own planning staff and are not served by this department. The department delivers regulatory and administrative services across six core product lines: Planning & Development Services (comprehensive plan and Development Ordinance administration), Building Permits & Inspections (building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical permits, ADA and energy code compliance, unsafe building enforcement), GIS (parcel mapping and spatial data via Beacon GIS by Schneider Corporation, ArcGIS, and IndianaMap), Redevelopment Programs (Tax Increment Financing project administration and Redevelopment Commission coordination), Board of Zoning Appeals (variance and special use hearings), and Plat & Plan Review (subdivision, zone map changes, DPUD amendments, and right-of-way vacations). Mae Hope serves as Director with a leadership team including Planning Manager H. Jason Auvil, Building Commissioner Kevin Williams, and Redevelopment Program Coordinator Natasha Weisenbeck.

The department's technology stack is built on standard government GIS platforms - Beacon GIS (Schneider Corporation) for web-based property search and parcel mapping, integrated with ArcGIS and IndianaMap - combined with a digital document management system that publishes agendas, minutes, ordinances, and applications from 2008-present, and a Building Permit Tracking archive of monthly exports from 2017-present. There is no proprietary AI/ML capability; the stack is conventional spatial data and document management. The operations are conducted from the Elkhart County Public Services Building at 4230 Elkhart Road in Goshen, Indiana, with ~10 employees and satellite meetings at Bristol Town Hall for the Bristol Innovation Park DPUD process.

The department does not generate commercial revenue. It is funded through Elkhart County's general tax revenue and collects only regulatory fees such as building permit fees, a $2,500 TIF project application fee for private developers, and BZA/subdivision/zoning application fees published in official fee schedules. Customer segments are Property Owners & Residents, Private Developers operating in TIF areas, and the four Municipal Governments that rely on county planning staff and the County Subdivision Control Ordinance. Distribution is direct through in-person walk-in services, the official website (elkhartcountyplanninganddevelopment.com), downloadable forms, and scheduled public hearings. Strategic coordination partners include the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County, MACOG, IDEM, IDNR, and Beacon GIS (Schneider Corporation).

Name

Elkhart County Plan Commission

Legal name

Elkhart County Planning & Development

Website

https://elkhartcountyplanninganddevelopment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Elkhart County Planning & Development is a county government department delivering building permits, zoning administration, subdivision review, GIS mapping, and TIF-based redevelopment for unincorporated Elkhart County and the Towns of Middlebury, Bristol, Wakarusa, and Millersburg in Indiana.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Land-Use Planning and Zoning Services

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925)

SIC

Non-Operating Establishments (9995)

akta.pro primary industry

Planning, Zoning, Permitting & Code Enforcement (BPAIACAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Housing & Neighborhood Services (Local Housing Programs) (BPAIACAJ)

Keywords

• Government planning services
• Building permit administration
• Zoning administration
• GIS mapping services
• Redevelopment programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Goshen

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Building Permit Fees: Fees collected for building permits, with different cutoff times for permits requiring health department approval (30 minutes before closing) versus standard permits (15 minutes before closing). Fee schedule available as Building Department Fee Schedule document.
2. TIF Project Application Fees: Private developers in TIF areas pay a $2,500 fee to have their project brought before the Redevelopment Commission and other governing bodies
3. Subdivision and Zoning Application Fees: Fees collected for zone map change applications, subdivision applications, DPUD amendment applications, and vacation of right-of-way applications. Uniform Schedule of Fees document available.
4. BZA Application Fees: Fees for Board of Zoning Appeals applications including developmental variance, use variance, mobile home special use, special use, and appeals from hearing officer

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Elkhart County Plan Commission is a county government department providing land-use planning, zoning administration, building permits and inspections, GIS mapping, redevelopment/TIF program administration, Board of Zoning Appeals hearings, and plat/subdivision plan review for unincorporated Elkhart County and the Towns of Middlebury, Bristol, Wakarusa, and Millersburg. The department enforces the County Subdivision Control Ordinance and Development Ordinance, processes permit and variance applications, administers Tax Increment Financing project reviews, and maintains public GIS records through the Beacon GIS platform. Services are delivered through in-person assistance at the Public Services Building, online document downloads, and scheduled public hearings.

Product overview

Elkhart County Planning & Development is a government department providing a suite of regulatory and administrative services for land development and construction within Elkhart County, Indiana. The department operates through multiple interconnected service lines: Planning & Zoning services manage comprehensive plans and the Development Ordinance; Building services handle permits, inspections, and code enforcement; GIS provides spatial mapping and property data; Redevelopment manages TIF projects; the Board of Zoning Appeals processes variances and special uses; and Plat & Plan reviews handle subdivision approvals. Residents and developers interact with these services primarily through the website via downloadable applications, permit forms, agenda/minute archives, and online GIS tools including Beacon GIS and ArcGIS integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and support.

• Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLinked as helpful partner resource for businesses and developers seeking economic development services in Elkhart County. Provides coordination between planning/development activities and economic development initiatives.
• Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional planning organization providing GIS mapping data and coordination for the Michiana region including Elkhart County. Collaborates on regional planning initiatives and data sharing.
• Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)supportTechnology or IntegrationState agency providing environmental regulatory oversight. Planning department coordinates on permits requiring health department approval and environmental compliance.
• Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)supportTechnology or IntegrationState agency for natural resources. Linked as helpful resource for developers and property owners regarding water, land, and natural resource regulations.
• Beacon GIS (Schneider Corporation)coreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party GIS platform provider enabling the county's geographic information system for property search, mapping, and spatial analysis.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Accela: Provides government permitting, licensing, and land management software specifically designed for planning and building departments at the county/municipal level — directly comparable to the operational workflows Elkhart County Plan Commission performs.

Others

• Esri (ArcGIS): Provider of ArcGIS, the spatial analysis platform integrated into Elkhart County's GIS capabilities; serves virtually every county planning department in the U.S., making it a foundational infrastructure supplier in this space.
• Granicus: Government communications and meeting management platform that powers agenda publishing, public meeting streaming, and citizen notifications — comparable to the public meeting and document archive operations at Elkhart County.
• CivicPlus: Provider of municipal government websites, public meeting agendas/minutes portals, and civic engagement software — directly analogous to the website, document archive, and meeting transparency functions Elkhart County delivers to the public.
• Schneider Corporation (Beacon GIS): Vendor of the Beacon GIS platform actually used by Elkhart County Plan Commission; provides parcel mapping, property search, and land records solutions to counties — an enabling infrastructure provider rather than a competitor.

Broad incumbents

• OpenGov: Government technology platform serving county and municipal governments with budgeting, procurement, and civic engagement tools — competes for the same digital modernization budget and operates in adjacent county government workflows.
• Tyler Technologies: Large public-sector software provider serving county and municipal governments with permitting, planning, land management, and ERP solutions; operates in the same government technology category that Elkhart County Plan Commission depends on and competes for the same customer budgets.

Emerging players

• SeeClickFix (CivicPlus): 311/citizen request and code enforcement platform used by municipal and county governments — overlaps with Elkhart County's code enforcement and unsafe building authority responsibilities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elkhart-county-plan-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elkhart County Plan Commission