ADU rules in Kissimmee

One ADU, attached or detached, may be developed per lot, provided the lot complies with the minimum lot size for the zoning district. A detached ADU requires a lot with 1.5 times the minimum required lot size. The Chapter 14-2 definition covers an attached or detached extension to an existing or proposed single family structure.

One ADU (attached or detached) per lot; an attached ADU needs only the district minimum lot size, not the 1.5x lot required for detached units. Permitted by right (P) in the AC, RE, RA-1 through RA-4, RB-1 and RB-2 districts per Table 4-1 (AC is P/C: new ADUs there are conditional).

An ADU shall have a minimum living area of 500 square feet and a maximum living area of 800 square feet or 40 percent of the gross floor area of the principal structure/dwelling at time of application, whichever is less. The 500 sq ft floor is unusual: units smaller than 500 sq ft of living area do not qualify.

The principal structure shall be owner-occupied and shall maintain a valid homestead exemption. Kissimmee enforces owner occupancy through the Florida homestead exemption, which is only available on an owner's permanent residence.

Sec. 14-6-2.B says an ADU 'shall require off-street parking as outlined in section 14-7-22 in addition to the parking required for the primary structure.' Table 7-2 sets the ADU ratio at 1 space per unit, while single family dwellings need 2 spaces per unit, so a house with an ADU needs 3 spaces in total. Sec. 14-7-22.A lets the department approve fewer spaces when a parking study shows a reduction is warranted. Sec. 14-7-21 says the off-street parking requirements 'shall not apply to the designated parking exemption area depicted on the Form-Based Code Special Requirements Plan,' a mapped downtown area of the form-based code (Chapter 14-5), whose T3, T4-R and T4-O transect zones allow ADUs; check the plan map to see whether a given lot falls inside it.

Table 4-1 lists accessory dwelling units as a permitted use (P) in the RE, RA-1, RA-2, RA-3, RA-4, RB-1 and RB-2 residential districts, subject to the Sec. 14-6-2 standards; the AC district is P/C (existing pre-annexation units deemed permitted, new units require conditional use approval). Also permitted in the RPB nonresidential district (Table 4-2) and in the T3, T4-R and T4-O downtown transect zones (Table 5-1).

Sec. 14-6-2 has no rental rule of its own and only requires the principal house to be owner-occupied, so the ADU itself may be leased for 30 days or more. Sec. 14-6-44.B, however, says 'The rental of a dwelling for less than 30 days in a residential district is prohibited' unless the dwelling sits in a Short-Term Rental Overlay (STRO) district and was approved for short-term use through a short-term rental or mixed-use PUD or as a conditional use, and new short-term rental developments must cover at least two acres and 12 dwelling units (Sec. 14-6-44.C.1), so a backyard ADU in an ordinary neighborhood cannot be a vacation rental. Short-term rentals are not a listed use in the RPB district (Table 4-2) or the downtown transect zones (Table 5-1), and unlisted uses are prohibited (Secs. 14-4-5 and 14-5-6). Where a short-term rental is lawful, Sec. 40-157(b) requires a state vacation rental license before the city issues a business tax receipt. The rule traces to Ord. 2038 of 1994, before the June 1, 2011 cutoff in Florida's vacation rental preemption (F.S. 509.032(7)), and the code does not copy the state's optional affordable-rent affidavit (F.S. 163.31771(4)).