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, not the front yard. ADUs 'may be allowed in all zoning districts' when the Sec. 10-412(1)b standards are met.

The 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). The city's ADU page lists converted habitable space, a converted basement or attic, a converted garage and an expansion of the existing house as ADU forms. 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 every requirement that 'shall be met' for an ADU and none involves owner occupancy. The Sec. 1-2 definition requires only that the ADU be 'a dwelling unit sharing ownership with a principal structure on a single property', not that the owner live on site. A client-wide full-text search of the city's codes finds 'owner-occupied' only in the inclusionary housing and site plan sections (Secs. 9-241, 9-245, 9-152), and neither the city's ADU page nor its March 2024 ADU Zoning Spotlight mentions an owner-occupancy rule.

Sec. 10-412(1) imposes no parking requirement on ADUs, and the parking schedule has no ADU row. Ordinance 26-O-08 (passed June 10, 2026, effective on adoption, not yet codified) replaced the Sec. 10-358 schedule with one combined table: '1 & 2 family dwellings' need 2 spaces per unit (3 for larger homes), tandem spaces count, and developments in the Downtown Overlay are now exempt from parking minimums. The code does not say whether that per-unit rate applies to an ADU added to an existing house, so confirm with Growth Management before planning without a space. The driveway of a single- or two-family residence 'shall be counted as a parking space for the dwelling unit' (Sec. 10-337(f)).

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. The city's ADU Zoning Spotlight adds that 'Residential building permits will be required for all ADU construction.'

Sec. 10-412(1) contains no rental or tenancy restriction, and client-wide full-text searches of the Land Development Code and Code of General Ordinances return no hits for 'short-term rental', 'vacation rental' or 'transient rental'. The city's March 2024 ADU Zoning Spotlight answers 'am I allowed to rent it out? Yes, ADUs can be rented as either short term or long-term rentals at the discretion of the property owner.' Sec. 10-412(1)b.6 applies the rooming-house rules of Sec. 10-83 to ADU lots zoned RP-1, RP-2, R-1 and R-2 (a rooming house means four or more unrelated occupants). The city code does not copy the affordable-rent affidavit of F.S. 163.31771(4), and whether that statutory affidavit attaches to Tallahassee permits is unsettled.