Welcome to DPS

Our Mission is to provide professional, responsive, efficient and cost-effective government and community services to provide assistance to and improve the quality of life of the people in Allen County.

As of March 3rd 2008 the Fort Wayne Land Use Management and Zoning Department and the Allen County Department of Planning Services became one department. Our office hours are Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM till 5:00 PM. If you have questions about the new permit or about changes to department processes please contact our office at (260) 449 - 7607.

At this time the Department of Planning Services only accepts

checks or cash (we do not accept $100 bills)

Developing Downtown?

Considering a New Project?

The Department of Planning Services holds monthly new projects meetings to discuss proposed projects prior to formal submittals. If you would like to participate in a new projects meeting please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to receive the new projects meeting application and calendar. There is no fee to participate in the new projects meeting

Reorganized Allen County and Fort Wayne Zoning Ordinance Summary

The first phase of the overall ordinance update project has now been completed. The update project has been ongoing since April of 2009; the first phase involved reorganizing and aligning the Allen County and Fort Wayne General Planning and Zoning Ordinances (Title 2 and Title 3 of the Allen County Code; and Chapter 153 and Chapter 157 of the Fort Wayne City Code). The primary intent of this phase was to take the language from the County and Fort Wayne existing ordinances, and put that text into an updated and aligned organizational structure.

The primary outcomes of this first phase are:

Both the County and Fort Wayne ordinances have been put into updated organizational structures; the “General Planning” provisions (Title 2 for Allen County, Chapter 153 for Fort Wayne) have been reorganized for the Comprehensive Plan and the Transportation Plan, and the Zoning Ordinance provisions (Title 3 for Allen County, and Chapter 157 for Fort Wayne) have been reorganized

• Both Zoning Ordinances now have similar General Provisions, Zoning Districts, Additional General Standards, Administration, and Enforcement Articles (County) or Subchapters (Fort Wayne);
• The Fort Wayne Sign Ordinance (currently a separate chapter of the City Code, Chapter 154) is being re-integrated into the Zoning Ordinance;
• The cross-references have been updated for both the County and Fort Wayne ordinances;
• Areas for future ordinance sections have been identified and put into place in the ordinances; and
• Several “tweaks” have been made to the ordinance language, to correct typographical errors, bring certain ordinance language into conformance with current State statute, and deal with the fact that the different chapter/sections were being relocated within the overall document.

The reorganized ordinance outlines are shown in the Reorganized County and Fort Wayne Table of Contents document.

Zoning and Sign Ordinance amendments have been approved and are effective as of January 1, 2011. The ordinance amendments address the adoption of the Downtown Design Manual. The amended Zoning and Sign Ordinance and the Design Manual can be found by navigating to our Ordinances, Manuals, and Plans page or by clicking here.