ADU rules in Tallahassee

An ADU 'shall be located as an attached or detached unit to a principal or accessory structure, so long as the height of the ADU is not greater than two stories.' Detached ADUs must be located in the interior side, side corner, or rear yard.

Same provision allows the ADU as an attached unit to a principal or accessory structure, including entirely on the second floor above an accessory structure (in which case the whole structure is capped at two stories). ADUs may be allowed in all zoning districts.

'ADUs shall not exceed 1,200 square feet of gross floor area under roof, provided that it can meet all other development standards.' Height may not exceed two stories. ADUs must meet the same setbacks and overall lot coverage requirements as the principal structure. The city's ADU page confirms: 'Citywide, ADUs can be up to 1,200 sq. ft. in size' and '2 stories in height.'

Sec. 10-412(1)b lists all requirements that 'shall be met' for an ADU and none involves owner occupancy. The Sec. 1-2 definition requires only that the ADU share ownership with the principal structure on a single property, not that the owner live on site. A full-text search of the city's codes found no ADU owner-occupancy provision, and the city's ADU page does not mention one.

Sec. 10-412(1) imposes no parking requirement on ADUs, and the citywide parking schedule (Sec. 10-358, Schedule A) has no ADU category. For context, single-family detached, single-family attached, and two-family dwellings require 2 spaces per unit (3 spaces for 4 bedrooms), and a single-family or two-family driveway counts as parking (Sec. 10-356). The city's ADU page does not mention parking.

ADUs 'may be allowed in all zoning districts provided that all of the following requirements shall be met'; compliance is determined administratively by the land use administrator during project determination under Ch. 9, Art. III. No conditional use approval or public hearing is required by the section. Standard building permits still apply.

Sec. 10-412(1) contains no rental or tenancy restrictions, and a client-wide full-text search of Tallahassee's Land Development Code and Code of General Ordinances returned zero hits for 'short-term rental'. The closest related provision is Sec. 10-412(1)b.6, which applies the rooming-house nonconforming-use rules of Sec. 10-83 to lots with ADUs zoned RP-1, RP-2, R-1, and R-2 (rooming houses are prohibited in those districts except registered pre-2001 nonconforming uses).