Compare ADU rules across Kansas

Hutchinson allows one accessory dwelling unit per residential zoning lot, and since Ord. 2023-10 the unit may be built as its own accessory building. The Sec. 27-406.A use table marks the ADU 'D' (permitted with design standards) only in the R-3, R-4, R-5 and R-6 residential districts and the CR and EN mixed districts; it is 'N' (not permitted) in TA, R-1 and R-2 (the single household districts) and in MH, MP, commercial, industrial and P/I districts. A detached ADU must sit in the side or rear yard, may not project into the front yard or the required side street front yard, and must be separated from adjacent residential properties by a minimum 6-foot privacy fence. Planning staff restated the district split in 2025 rezoning reports: rezoning a lot from R-4 to R-1 means accessory dwelling units 'would no longer be permitted'.

Ordinance read October 2026

Sec. 27-406.A.1.a (added by Ord. 2023-10, passed 6-20-2023) says an ADU 'may be within the principal building, within an accessary building, or constructed as an accessory building', so basement, addition and internal conversions qualify on the same terms as detached units. The same district limit applies: allowed with design standards in R-3, R-4, R-5, R-6, CR and EN, and not allowed in TA, R-1 and R-2. The unit must have its own kitchen, sleeping, restroom and bathing facilities not shared with the main house; a suite without its own kitchen is not an ADU. The side or rear yard rule and the privacy fence rule apply only to detached units (Ord. 2022-7 limited them to detached ADUs).

Ordinance read October 2026

The codified zoning code (Unified Government Code Chapter 27, Article VIII, Supp. 52) defines an accessory dwelling unit only as "a dwelling unit that is located over a garage on the same lot or parcel as the primary residential building" (Sec. 27-340) and lists ADUs as an accessory use in no standard residential district: the R-1, R-1(B), R-2 and R-2(B) accessory-use list in Sec. 27-609 and the R-3 through R-M list in Sec. 27-610 contain no dwelling unit of any kind. The use reaches the ground in only two settings. First, the Narrow Lot Design Guidelines (February 18, 2008), incorporated by reference in Secs. 27-454(d)(3)b and 27-455(c)(3) for new residences east of I-635 on narrow lots in R-1, R-1(B), their RP-1 and RP-1(B) planned equivalents and districts that borrow those standards, allow an "Accessory Unit" (a granny flat over a garage, attached or detached, toward the rear) as a building type paired with the new house. Second, the TND traditional neighborhood design planned district lists an accessory unit, which there may also be a single-story detached unit not tied to a garage, as a building type, one per main structure (Sec. 27-471(h)(1)a, (j)(1)b). Planning staff told the City Planning Commission on 8-10-2026 that ADUs "can only be built with new construction using narrow lot design guidelines" and have "no designated approval pathway" elsewhere, so a backyard unit behind an existing house on an ordinary lot has no path under the operative text. A new Sec. 27-624 that would allow detached, attached, interior and converted ADUs in every district that allows a residential use was recommended 7 to 0 by the Planning Commission on 9-14-2026 and heard by the Board of Commissioners on 10-1-2026; as of 10-8-2026 it had not been published in The Wyandotte Echo or codified, so it is recorded in the caveats rather than as the value.

Ordinance read October 2026

The same Sec. 27-340 definition says the unit "can be attached or detached from the primary residential building" but must sit over a garage, toward the rear of the lot and never in the front yard, so an attached garage apartment qualifies only in the two settings that allow any ADU at all: a new narrow-lot house built under the Narrow Lot Design Guidelines east of I-635 (Secs. 27-454(d)(3)b, 27-455(c)(3)) or a TND district (Sec. 27-471(h)(1)a). Basement, attic and other interior conversions of an existing house are not accessory dwelling units under the codified definition and have no approval path; a converted detached garage without new construction over it likewise falls outside the definition. The pending Sec. 27-624 would add express "interior" (basement, attic, interior garage or room with a separate entrance), "attached" and "converted" ADU types alongside detached units.

Ordinance read October 2026

No discretionary hearing is written for an ADU anywhere it is possible, but the path differs by setting and is absent in most of the city. For a new narrow-lot house east of I-635, the Accessory Unit is approved with the house: planning staff review the design against the Narrow Lot Design Guidelines, which Secs. 27-454(d)(3)b and 27-455(c)(3) incorporate by reference, and the Director's Interpretation of 9-27-2022 treats that compliance as a staff determination made at building permit (the Director may grant limited exceptions such as alley access); the review is mandatory on undeveloped lots east of I-635 that are under the district minimums (R-1 lots under 7,150 sq ft; R-1(B) lots under 50 ft of frontage or 5,000 sq ft) and optional on other undeveloped lots there. In a TND district, accessory units are a by-right building type but the lot's final plans are approved by the Design Review Board under the planned-district procedure (Sec. 27-471(u)). On an existing house outside those settings there is no permit to apply for, because the use is not listed. The pending Sec. 27-624(g) would make every ADU a building permit only ("no separate administrative review is required") with a complete application "deemed approved unless the application is denied within 30 days of receipt" under the By-Right Housing Development Act.

Ordinance read October 2026

The default rule is ongoing owner occupancy: either the house or the ADU must be occupied by a record owner (20-811(b)(4)(A)), and the registration affidavit must name which unit the owner occupies and be refiled if the owner moves to the other unit (20-811(b)(8)(B)). If neither unit is an owner's principal residence, the ADU may not house anyone and the owner faces enforcement, unless (1) the lot is designated permanently affordable, or (2) the ADU is attached to the house and the owner could legally have created a two-unit dwelling when the ADU was created (20-811(b)(4)(B)). Because two-unit dwellings are permitted in R-1 through R-4, M-1 and M-2 on qualifying lots, many attached ADUs escape the rule; detached ADUs stay owner-occupied. Kansas has no state owner-occupancy preemption.

Ordinance read October 2026

A detached ADU is allowed in any residential zoning district (R1-25, R1-9, R1-7.5, R1-6, R-MF, R4-16, RMX and MP) only through a special use permit, which takes a Planning Commission public hearing and a City Commission ordinance. Development Regulations §4.04.B.5.d lists ADUs among the accessory uses that 'shall only be permitted upon approval of a special use application by the city commission'. The provision dates from the 2019 text amendments; only one ADU special use permit had ever been issued as of September 2025 (Ord. 8254, 303 N. Esplanade, 12-10-2024), per city staff. A tiny home (a 200 to 400 sq ft site-built home on a permanent foundation) may serve as the ADU under §4.04.D.3.

Ordinance read October 2026

§4.04.B.5.d does not distinguish detached from attached or internal units, so an attached ADU or a basement unit built out as a separate dwelling unit goes through the same special use permit in any residential district. Condition (6) requires the ADU to 'meet all building code requirements for a single-family dwelling unit'. City staff have said a kitchenette suite added inside the house is not a separate dwelling unit and so is not an ADU (BZA minutes, 10-18-2021); a unit rented separately would have to meet the dwelling-unit code requirements and the ADU rules.

Ordinance read October 2026

Every ADU needs a special use permit under §2.04: an application with a certified 200-foot ownership list, a Planning Commission public hearing with published and mailed notice at least 20 days ahead, a possible protest petition (owners of 20 percent of the notice area force a three-fourths City Commission vote), and final approval by City Commission ordinance on discretionary findings (economic development or convenience, no substantial injury to neighboring property values, no domination of the neighborhood). The city's own page says the process 'may take up to 90 days'. This discretionary step is in tension with 2026 SB 418 §1(c)(1) (in effect 7-1-2026), and city staff proposed converting ADUs to permitted uses in response, but that amendment (Case 2026-27 TXT) was tabled on 9-14-2026 and had not been adopted as of 10-8-2026.

Ordinance read October 2026

No ADU of any form is allowed in Leawood, so no owner-occupancy rule exists to apply. The LDO contains no owner-occupancy covenant or affidavit regime for any accessory use, and the city's rental licensing section (City Code 8-536) licenses rented dwelling units without a primary-residence test. Kansas has no statewide ADU owner-occupancy statute.

Ordinance read October 2026

There is no ADU permit path in Leawood: no district lists an ADU, guest house or accessory apartment as a permitted, planned or special use, and accessory buildings may never be used as dwellings. Kansas SB 418 (effective 7-1-2026) requires by-right approval of ADUs that meet "the criteria outlined in the zoning code and land use regulations", but it does not itself make ADUs a permitted use, and the LDO supplies no ADU criteria to meet. The LDO's Table of Uses already provides that any use "required to be permitted as a right in a residential district by applicable federal or state law shall be so permitted", so a future state mandate would attach there. Leawood has adopted no SB 418 implementation ordinance (ordinance archive through Ord. 3225 of 9-21-2026 and Governing Body and Planning Commission agendas through September 2026 checked).

Ordinance read October 2026

No ADU of any form is allowed in Lenexa, so there is no owner-occupancy rule to apply. The reserved accessory-apartment slot (4-1-B-24-F-1) contains no standards of any kind, and Kansas has no statewide ADU owner-occupancy statute. The city's rental licensing chapter (Chapter 2-16) licenses rentals by property and has no primary-residence test.

Ordinance read October 2026

There is no ADU permit path in Lenexa: accessory apartments are "reserved for future adoption" and no district lists an ADU or guest house as a permitted or special use. Kansas SB 418 (effective 7-1-2026) requires by-right approval of ADUs that meet "the criteria outlined in the zoning code and land use regulations," but it does not itself make ADUs a permitted use, and Lenexa's zoning code supplies no ADU criteria to meet. The city has adopted no SB 418 implementation ordinance and no charter ordinance exempting itself from the act (council agendas through 10-6-2026 and charter ordinances through No. 79 checked).

Ordinance read October 2026

Manhattan has no accessory dwelling unit use: the Manhattan Development Code defines an ADU but Table 26-2C-3.1 never lists one, and Sec. 26-2A-1 C says uses not listed as permitted are prohibited. A detached backyard home is possible only as a second principal single-family detached dwelling (SFR-D) in the RL-A and RM districts, where more than one principal building is allowed and the lot has 3,000 sq ft per dwelling unit (so at least 6,000 sq ft for two). In the RL district, the city's largest single-family district, only one principal building is allowed per lot, so no detached second home can be added; RH and RC do not permit SFR-D at all. Planning staff told the Planning Board on 8-3-2026 that second units 'would be allowed in RL-A and above', and the Board's 3-7-2026 letter asking the City Commission to authorize a by-right ADU framework is still unanswered with a draft.

Ordinance read October 2026

There is no attached or internal ADU use either; adding a second unit to a house turns it into a two-unit single-family attached building (SFR-A, the code's duplex category). A two-unit SFR-A is permitted by right in RL-A, RM and RH but not in RL or RC (RC starts at three units), and the lot needs 1,500 sq ft per unit in RL-A, 750 in RM and 700 in RH. In the Established Neighborhood overlay (O-EN), SFR-A in RL-A is capped at three units and the overlay's own bulk table applies. Owners in RL have no route to an internal second unit short of rezoning.

Ordinance read October 2026

Overland Park allows an accessory dwelling unit in only three districts: PRN Planned Residential Neighborhood (18.245.020 K lists 'Accessory dwelling units' as a permitted use), MXD Planned Mixed Use (18.275.020 P 'Accessory residential units', with the Type X Accessory Unit building type allowed in the Core, Center, General and Edge sub-zones under MUDS 4.4), and the Downtown Form District, whose Detached and Townhouse/Small Apartment frontages allow an Accessory Unit at the rear of the lot. The standard single-family districts (R-1, RP-1, R-1A, RP-1A, RP-1N, RE, RP-OE, RP-OS) and R-2 list no ADU use, and 18.390.140 L bars any building accessory to a family dwelling from being used for residential purposes, so a backyard cottage behind a house in those districts is not allowed. A full-text search of the code for 'accessory dwelling' returns only the PRN sections and the 2026 by-right chapter, and the Council's June 15, 2026 UDO policy paper still asked whether ADUs should be allowed in the City at all.

Ordinance read October 2026

Attached and internal ADUs follow the same three-district map. In MXD, MUDS 4.4.12 and 4.4.13 let an accessory unit on a single-family lot be attached or detached from the main structure; in the Downtown Form District an Accessory Unit is defined as 'a building or addition for living purposes', and the Townhouse/Small Apartment frontage allows one English Basement unit or one accessory unit per lot; the PRN text permits 'accessory dwelling units' without specifying a form. Outside those districts there is no ADU use: a second unit with its own kitchen inside a house makes the building a two-family dwelling (18.110.225), which the single-family districts do not list.

Ordinance read October 2026

One ALQ, defined as "a subordinate dwelling unit within a single-family dwelling that provides basic requirements for cooking, living, sleeping, eating and sanitation" (Sec. 19.02.013), may be added to any single-family house through staff review (Sec. 19.34.045), so basement apartments, additions and internal conversions with their own kitchen are possible citywide. The conditions are what make it conditional: the owner must live on site, every occupant of both units must be related by blood, marriage or adoption (plus domestic help and caregivers), the owner must record a deed document barring rental, the two units share one address, mailbox and utility meter, and the ALQ needs a city occupancy permit every three years. Private exterior entrances to the ALQ must be on the side or rear, with only common entrances on the front. The ALQ attaches only to a single-family dwelling, so a duplex, townhouse or apartment cannot add one.

Ordinance read October 2026

There is no attached or internal ADU either, but a second unit inside or attached to a house is lawful in three districts as a two-family dwelling. Sec. 42-665 defines a single-family dwelling as 'a residential building containing one (1) dwelling unit only', so a basement or addition with its own kitchen turns the house into a 'Two-family dwelling' (Sec. 42-666). Two-family dwellings are permitted by right only in R-2 (Sec. 42-172, 'Two-family detached', plus single-family attached up to two units per building), R-2.5 (Sec. 42-187) and R-3 (Sec. 42-202), on lots of at least 6,000 sq ft in R-2 or 3,000 sq ft per family in R-2.5 and R-3, at least 50 ft wide. In the A-1, RS, R and R-1 districts only single-family dwellings are permitted (Secs. 42-112, 42-127, 42-142, 42-157), so no second unit of any kind is available there. Even where allowed, the result is a duplex of two co-equal units, not a subordinate accessory unit.

Ordinance read October 2026

It depends entirely on the district. In R-2, R-2.5 and R-3 a two-family dwelling is a permitted use, so a conversion needs only a building permit and the zoning certificate the zoning administrator issues under Sec. 42-596(a)(1), with no hearing. In A-1, RS, R and R-1 there is no permit path: a second unit is not a permitted, accessory or conditional use, and Sec. 42-597 says the Board of Zoning Appeals 'is not authorized' to grant 'A variance which would allow a use not otherwise permitted in the zoning district' or one that 'would increase residential density above the maximum allowed'. The only routes there are legislative, a zoning map amendment to R-2 or higher or a planned development district under Article VII, each heard by the Planning Commission and adopted by City Commission ordinance. SB 418's by-right process (2026, effective on publication in the statute book) reaches only projects that already 'comply with established land use regulations', so it can shorten the R-2/R-2.5/R-3 conversion route but opens nothing in the single-family districts.

Ordinance read October 2026

Shawnee allows no ADU of any form, so no owner-occupancy rule exists. Title 17 contains no owner-occupancy requirement for any accessory use, including the one-boarder allowance in the single-family districts. Kansas has no statute that requires or preempts ADU owner occupancy.

Ordinance read October 2026

No ADU permit path exists. A special use permit can be granted only for uses the Table of General Use Regulations marks 'S' in a district (§ 17.88.020(A)), and the table has no ADU row; an unlisted use is matched by interpretation to a similar listing (§ 17.51.010), and the closest listed use for a second household unit, the two-family dwelling, is permitted only in DU. Adding a unit therefore means rezoning (to DU, or a planned unit development under Chapter 17.54) through a Planning Commission hearing and Governing Body vote. Kansas 2026 SB 418 (the by-right housing development act, approved 4-7-2026) requires by-right approval of ADUs that meet 'the criteria outlined in the zoning code and land use regulations', but it does not create an ADU use where the local code has none, so it changes nothing in Shawnee until the city adds one.

Ordinance read October 2026

Topeka's use table (TMC 18.60.010) lists "Dwelling, Accessory" as an allowed use only in the M-1, M-1a, M-2 and M-3 two-family and multiple-family districts and the X-1, X-2, X-3 and D-1 mixed-use and downtown districts. The July 2024 ADU ordinance (Ord. 20500) added an "S/C" entry for the R-1, R-2 and R-3 single-family districts, so a detached ADU there was allowed if it met the TMC 18.225.010(mm) standards (or by conditional use permit if it did not). Ord. 20640, passed February 17, 2026 to loosen multi-family rules in commercial, downtown and mixed-use districts, restated the whole residential table from a pre-2024 copy, and the single-family cell for accessory dwellings is now "-" (not allowed). Section 18.225.010(mm) still describes detached ADUs in single-family neighborhoods and still points to the "S/C" level, so the change looks unintended, but as codified a detached ADU on an R-1, R-2 or R-3 lot has no listed approval path; confirm with Topeka Planning and Development before designing one. ADUs are never listed in R-4, RR-1, OS-1, U-1, MS-1, D-2, D-3 or the office, commercial and industrial districts.

Ordinance read October 2026

Integrated accessory dwellings (a conversion or addition within or onto the principal dwelling, such as a basement or attic unit) follow the same district rules as detached ones: listed as allowed in M-1, M-1a, M-2, M-3, X-1, X-2, X-3 and D-1, and in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 single-family districts only under the 2024 "S/C" entry that Ord. 20640 dropped from the table in February 2026. Under TMC 18.225.010(mm)(4)(iii) an integrated ADU must be separated from the house by a wall, floor or ceiling, have its own exterior entrance that is not visible from the street on the house's street-facing elevation, keep any exterior stairway on the side or rear, and match the house's windows and eaves. An integrated ADU that cannot meet those standards may seek a conditional use permit.

Ordinance read October 2026

Wichita's zoning code (the joint Wichita-Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code) calls an ADU an 'Accessory Apartment', defined as an accessory dwelling unit that 'may be wholly within, or may be detached from, a principal Single-Family Dwelling Unit' (Sec. II-B.1.b). Sec. III-D.6.a(1) allows one per lot, built as or within an accessory building. In SF-5 and TF-3, the districts that hold most single-family lots inside the city (SF-10, SF-20 and RR are intended for unincorporated areas), and in MH and NO, it is a Conditional Use that needs a Metropolitan Area Planning Commission public hearing. It is permitted by right in MF-18, MF-29, B, GO, NR, LC, GC and CBD, and not allowed in OW, IP-A, IP, LI or GI. A detached unit must also meet the accessory-structure setbacks and height limit of Sec. III-D.7.e.

Ordinance read October 2026

The same definition covers a unit 'wholly within' the house (basement, attic or addition), and Sec. III-D.6.a(1) allows the unit to be 'within the Main Building'. The approval path is identical to a detached unit: a Conditional Use with an MAPC hearing in SF-5, TF-3, SF-10, SF-20, RR, MH and NO, and by right in MF-18, MF-29, B, GO, NR, LC, GC and CBD. Under the current text the host must be a single-family dwelling; an accessory apartment on a duplex lot is not provided for (the pending DER2025-00022 amendment would add duplexes).

Ordinance read October 2026

In SF-5, TF-3, SF-10, SF-20, RR, MH and NO an Accessory Apartment is a Conditional Use: an application with a detailed site plan, a public hearing before the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission after at least 20 days' notice, and a decision that may 'approve, approve with conditions or modifications, or deny' (Sec. V-D.4, V-D.6). Protest petitions or appeals filed within 14 days send it to the City Council; MAPD describes the process as 60 to 90 days. In MF-18, MF-29, B, GO, NR, LC, GC and CBD it is permitted by right, subject to the III-D.6.a standards and a building permit. Kansas SB 418 Sec. 1(c)(1) (effective 7-1-2026) says ADUs meeting 'the criteria outlined in the zoning code' 'shall be approved by-right, without the need for discretionary review or approval by planning commissions'; MAPC kept hearing accessory-apartment conditional uses after that date (CON2026-00086 approved 9 to 1 on 8-13-2026), so the value follows the local text.

Ordinance read October 2026