ADU rules in Elko

Elko has no accessory dwelling unit category at all: a search of the whole city code returns zero hits for "accessory dwelling unit." What the code does allow, by right in every residential district, is a "Guesthouse or servants' quarters" as an accessory use, and 3-2-5(E)(8)(b) states flatly that detached guesthouses and servants' quarters are permitted in any district. The catch is that nothing in the code says such a building may be an independent home. "Guesthouse" is not defined, and 3-2-2 defines a dwelling unit as a single unit with permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, while the RS and R1 districts permit only "One single-family dwelling ... with each dwelling unit on its own parcel of land." A detached guest quarters without a kitchen is straightforward; a detached unit with a kitchen is a second dwelling unit and is not a listed use in RS or R1. In the R2, R, RO and RB districts a duplex, triplex or fourplex on one lot is a principal permitted use, so a genuine second unit is available there through the multi-family use categories rather than as an accessory unit. Confirm the kitchen question with the Planning Department before designing.

Attached or internal accessory space is on the same footing as detached space. 3-2-2 defines SERVANT QUARTERS as "an attached or detached building, or part thereof, housing persons employed on the premises," and every residential district lists guesthouse or servants' quarters among its accessory uses, so an attached wing or converted basement used as accessory quarters is contemplated. Turning that space into a self-contained second unit is a different matter: a building with two attached dwelling units is a two-family dwelling under 3-2-2, and a duplex is a principal permitted use only in R2, R, RO and RB (minimum 6,000 square foot lot, and 3-2-2 requires the two units be totally separated by an unpierced wall). RS and R1 permit one dwelling only. The R and RB districts separately allow renting rooms in the principal building to no more than two roomers per dwelling unit, provided adequate additional off-street parking is supplied.

There is no ADU-specific size cap because there is no ADU category. A guesthouse is an accessory building, so the 3-2-5(H) schedules govern: the "Maximum Cumulative Square Feet of All Acc. Buildings" column reads "10% of lot size or 1,200 sq. ft." for R1, R2, R3, R, RO and RB, and footnote 2 makes clear the cap counts permanent and non-permanent buildings together, so an existing garage or shed eats into the allowance. The RS district cell is blank, meaning no cumulative square-footage cap is stated there (RS lots start at 15,000 square feet). Height for permanent accessory buildings is 35 feet in RS, R1 and R2, 45 feet in R3, R and RO and 25 feet in RB; non-permanent accessory buildings are held to 15 feet. All heights yield to the City of Elko Airport Master Plan where it is more restrictive. Note also that a detached guesthouse must meet the principal building's yard requirements, not the relaxed 5-foot accessory setbacks.

Nothing in the Elko City Code conditions a guesthouse, servants' quarters or any residential accessory use on the owner living on the property: a whole-code search for "owner occupied" returns zero hits, and the accessory-use lists in 3-2-5 attach no occupancy proviso beyond meeting the principal building's yard requirements. The only residency-flavored language is the definition of servants' quarters, which houses "persons employed on the premises," and that describes who may live in that particular use rather than imposing an owner-occupancy mandate. Nevada's 2025 ADU law does not add one either, and in any event it does not reach Elko. One adjacent rule to know: a homeowner who pulls a building permit as an owner-builder must agree in writing not to lease or sell the structure within one year of the certificate of occupancy.

The off-street parking schedule in 3-2-17(F) has no row for a guesthouse, servants' quarters or accessory dwelling. Its residential rows require 2 spaces per dwelling unit for a single-family residence, duplex, triplex or fourplex, so a unit that qualifies as a dwelling unit picks up the 2-space requirement, while accessory quarters that are not a separate dwelling unit add nothing. The schedule preamble is the operative gap-filler: an unlisted use takes the requirement of the most similar listed use, or whatever the Planning Commission or City Council requires, so expect a case-by-case call. In residential districts no required space may sit in a required front or side yard, and the Planning Commission can waive all or part of a parking requirement for cause after notifying adjacent owners.

A guesthouse or servants' quarters is listed under "Accessory Uses Permitted" in the RS, R1, R2, R, RO and RB districts, and 3-2-5(E)(8)(b) permits detached guesthouses and servants' quarters in any district, so no conditional use permit or public hearing is involved. The city's published planning application menu confirms this: it offers conditional use, variance, site plan review, home occupation and similar applications, but nothing for an ADU or a guesthouse. Approval therefore runs through the Building Department as a building permit under 2-1-4(A)(1); the small-shed permit exemption at 2-1-4(G)(1)(a) expressly does not cover a building "occupied as a dwelling unit," so anything habitable needs the permit. Where a second unit is built instead as a duplex in R2, R, RO or RB it is still a principal permitted use and stays ministerial; a triplex or fourplex in R2 does require a conditional use permit.

Elko has no ADU-specific rental rule and no short-term-rental ordinance at all: code-wide searches for "short-term rental" and "vacation rental" both return zero hits. Long-term renting is untouched by the zoning code, though a business license is required of anyone renting three or more residential rental units. Short-term is where the rules bite. Title 4, Chapter 6 defines transient lodging as any rental of under 28 consecutive days, imposes a 15 percent transient lodging tax on the operator, and makes it unlawful to carry on a transient lodging rental business without a license from the City Clerk. Separately, transient lodging and hotel or motel use are not listed as permitted uses in any residential district, and 3-2-3(C)(1) prohibits any principal use not specifically listed, so a whole-unit short-term rental in a residential zone has no clear zoning basis. Confirm with the Planning Department before advertising one.