ADU rules in Ruidoso

A backyard casita is possible in Ruidoso, but only in one zone and only after a hearing. Sec. 54-85(i)(1)a says accessory dwelling units 'are allowed only in the R-1 district and must receive conditional use approval,' and the R-1 district standards cap it at one: 'A maximum of one accessory dwelling shall be allowed per lot as a conditional use.' The Planning Commission decides the conditional use permit at a noticed public hearing and can attach conditions. Chapter 54 is the Land Development Code rewrite adopted by Ordinance 2024-08 on 1-14-2025 and codified in Municode Supplement 35; the January 2025 rewrite is what created the ADU category, which the prior code did not have.

The code lists a single 'accessory dwelling unit' use with no attached-versus-detached split, so an internal or attached unit runs the same R-1 conditional use permit gauntlet. Two provisions narrow it sharply. Sec. 54-120 states that no 'cellar, garage, tent, trailer, basement with unfinished structure above, or accessory building shall at any time be used as a dwelling unit,' which closes off garage conversions and basement units as a route to a separate ADU; a finished home's basement may be used for living, eating, and sleeping only as part of the same household. And because an accessory building connected to the principal building by a roof or covered walkway 'shall be counted as part of the principal building' (Sec. 54-66 definition and Sec. 54-121(a)), a physically attached second unit tends to be reviewed instead as a two-family dwelling, itself a conditional use in R-1 under the Sec. 54-84 use table. Confirm the path with the planning administrator, who holds interpretation authority under Sec. 54-36(d).

Neither Sec. 54-85(i)(1) nor Sec. 54-121 sets a square-footage limit or a percent-of-primary-dwelling limit for an accessory dwelling, which is unusual and means the practical ceiling comes from the R-1 dimensional table and from whatever the Planning Commission imposes on the conditional use permit. Table 54.69.1a for R-1 requires a minimum lot area of 7,500 sq ft, minimum lot width 75 ft and depth 100 ft, setbacks of 15 ft front, 10 ft side, 20 ft corner side, and 15 ft rear, and a maximum height of 35 ft. Sec. 54-121(f) adds that any accessory structure over 120 sq ft must meet the building codes adopted in Sec. 22-31. Do not assume a number: ask the Community Development Department what size the commission will accept before designing.

Not a strict owner-occupancy rule, but an ongoing on-site residency rule. Sec. 54-85(i)(1)c requires that 'the owner or long-term resident of the primary structure must live on site,' so the main house has to be somebody's actual home, either the owner's or a long-term tenant's; the owner does not personally have to live there. Combined with the ban on short-term renting an ADU, the effect is that a property owner cannot run both units as vacation lodging or leave the main house vacant while renting out the casita. The requirement is continuing, not just an application-stage attestation, and a conditional use permit may be revoked if its conditions are violated (Sec. 54-97(f)).

Sec. 54-85(i)(1) imposes no parking condition of its own. The general schedule in Sec. 54-125(e)(1)a requires 'two spaces per unit' for single-family, two-family, townhouse, three-family, four-family and multiple-family dwellings, and does not name accessory dwelling units; under Sec. 54-83(d) the Community Development Department may treat an unlisted use like the most similar listed use, which points to the two-spaces-per-unit figure. Expect the Planning Commission to set the number as a condition of approval on a steep mountain lot. Off-street parking accessory to a residence may only hold licensed, operable passenger vehicles and recreational equipment (Sec. 54-125(a)(3)).

Zoning approval is discretionary. Sec. 54-85(i)(1)a requires conditional use approval, and Sec. 54-97 routes that through a Planning Commission public hearing on a staff report, with approval requiring 'a two-thirds vote of the members of the planning commission present.' The commission may impose conditions and safeguards, may issue the permit for a fixed term with automatic cancellation and periodic review, and may revoke it for violations; a denied application cannot be refiled for six months absent new evidence. Separately, construction permits come from the Village itself, which operates its own building department under the 2021 IRC and IBC adopted in Sec. 22-31, not from the state Construction Industries Division.

Sec. 54-85(i)(1)b is unambiguous: 'Accessory dwelling units may not be used as short-term rentals.' That is a deliberate carve-out in one of New Mexico's busiest vacation-rental markets, where every other dwelling unit in the village may be rented nightly under the Short-Term Residential Rental Overlay Zone with a Village permit, annual compliance inspection, posted occupancy and parking limits, and lodgers' tax. The overlay defines a short-term residential rental as a stay of not less than one night and not more than 29 consecutive days, so an ADU let for 30 days or more is a permitted long-term rental. Sec. 54-85(i)(1)c independently requires the owner or a long-term resident of the main house to live on site. Nothing in Chapter 54 permits selling an ADU separately: R-1 allows one principal dwelling structure per lot and resubdivision is reviewed by the Planning Commission and Council.