ADU rules in Bartlesville

A detached accessory dwelling unit (the code also calls it a guest house or in-law apartment) is listed as 'a permitted use in all residential districts' (RA, RE, RS, RM and RT), but only 'subject to the granting of a Special Zoning Permit' from the Board of Adjustment after a public hearing, so every ADU is a discretionary approval. Section 8.3.4.B expressly allows constructing a detached unit beside an existing house or building a new house with a detached unit. One ADU per single-family lot, the owner must live in the main house, and the unit may not be rented.

Internal and attached units take the same route: §8.3.4.B allows converting existing living area, a basement, attic or garage, or adding floor area to an existing detached single-family home, each subject to a Board of Adjustment Special Zoning Permit with a public hearing. An attached unit may have its own entrance only if it faces the interior of the lot.

§8.3.4.E caps the ADU at 'no more than 33% of the living area of the primary residential unit to which it is accessory or 800 square feet, whichever is less', and the ADU plus all other structures must stay within the district's maximum lot coverage. A detached ADU must also meet the same development standards and setbacks as the main house (§8.3.4.A), and the general accessory-building rules in §8.3.2 and §8.3.3 put detached accessory buildings on the rear half of the lot, 10 feet from any dwelling and within 30 percent of the required rear yard. No separate ADU height cap was found.

Ongoing: an ADU 'may be allowed within or attached to a single-family dwelling ... where the primary residential unit is occupied by the property owner' (§8.3.4.A), and the Section 13 definition makes owner occupancy of the primary residence part of what an ADU is. Utility service must stay in the property owner's name with no separate meter (§8.3.4.D). Oklahoma has no statute limiting owner-occupancy rules.

§8.3.4.C requires 'at least three (3) off-street parking spaces conforming to Section 7.4.2' for a single-family dwelling with an ADU. Table 4.2 requires two spaces per single-family dwelling unit, so the ADU adds one space. The Board of Adjustment may impose further conditions when granting the permit (§10.5.3).

Every ADU needs a Special Zoning Permit from the Board of Adjustment before a building permit can issue: a published newspaper notice, mailed notice to owners within 300 feet, a public hearing (§10.5.6 and §10.5.7) and four findings, including that the use will not be 'injurious to the neighborhood' (§10.5.8). The Board 'may deny an application' or add conditions (§10.5.3). The city's procedure sheet sets a $50 fee, a certified 300-foot owner list and filing 30 days before the monthly hearing; an approval lapses unless a building or zoning compliance permit is applied for within one year (§10.4.6.4).

§8.3.4.H: 'The property owner shall not charge any rent or other form of compensation for the use of the ADD by any occupant thereof. Further, said ADD shall not be used as an income-producing property.' The Section 13 definition repeats that an ADU is a unit 'for which no rent or other form of compensation is paid'. This bars both long-term leasing and short-term rental of the unit; the code has no short-term-rental license, and Oklahoma has no short-term-rental preemption. A separate rental registration program (Code §§4-222 to 4-229) applies to other rental housing.