ADU rules in Scranton

Scranton's zoning ordinance names the use outright. § 445-8 defines 'Dwelling: Accessory (ADU)' as a residential dwelling unit on the same lot as a single family dwelling, expressly including one 'in a detached building.' The Table of Accessory Use Regulations in § 445-12 lists 'Dwelling: accessory (ADU)' as P, permitted by right, in every residential district: R-6 Suburban Single Family, R-8 Town Single Family, R-9 Town Mixed Residential, R-10 Town-City Single Family and R-11 City Neighborhood Mixed Residential, plus Conservation, Planned Recreation and the 14 City Neighborhood Mixed Use district. This is new since the city replaced its 1993 zoning ordinance with Ord. No. 54-2023 on 5-9-2023; the repealed code had no ADU use at all.

The same single use line covers interior and attached units: § 445-8 defines the ADU as located 'either within the same building as the single family dwelling unit or in a detached building,' so a basement, attic or addition unit carries the identical P designation in R-6 through R-11 as a backyard cottage. There is no separate approval track, no extra criteria and no size split between the attached and detached forms. The chapter's separate 'Conversion residential' criteria in § 445-41R, which would cap a property at one added unit over its lifetime, are not triggered here: no district's use table lists 'Conversion residential' as an available use, so the accessory ADU is the operative path to a second unit inside an existing house.

Scranton sets no floor-area limit on an ADU anywhere in Chapter 445. What binds instead are the district accessory-structure standards in the § 445-12 Lot Dimensions Standards tables: accessory structures may not exceed 25 feet in height in R-6, R-8, R-9, R-10 and R-11 (principal structures get 35 feet, or 40 feet in R-11). Placement rules do the rest of the work: § 445-28B bars any accessory structure from the front yard setback, and the accessory-structure setbacks run 5 feet side and rear in R-6, R-8 and R-9 and 0 feet side with 5 feet rear in R-10 and R-11. Impervious surface coverage caps the total build-out at 45% in R-6, 60% in R-9, 75% in R-10 and R-11, with R-8 instead capped at 60% building coverage.

Nothing in Chapter 445 conditions an ADU on the owner living on the property. The ADU definition in § 445-8, the accessory-structure rules in § 445-28 and the single ADU criterion in § 445-41W are silent on occupancy, and no district table attaches an owner-occupancy condition. The contrast inside the same chapter is deliberate: § 445-30A says 'The dwelling associated with a short-term rental must be the permanent address of the owner, and the owner must occupy the dwelling for at least six months of the calendar year.' That six-month rule bites only if the ADU or the main house is rented on a short-term basis; an ADU let to a long-term tenant carries no residency test for the owner. Pennsylvania has no statewide ADU statute that would preempt a local occupancy rule either way.

§ 445-41W(1) is the only ADU-specific standard in the chapter and it is about parking: 'In addition to off-street parking requirements for the principal use, each accessory dwelling unit will require one off-street parking space.' The general parking table reaches the same result independently, since § 445-42.1A requires one space per dwelling unit for 'Dwellings' and an ADU is a dwelling unit under § 445-8. A house that already owes one space therefore owes two once the ADU exists. Garages and carports outside the public right-of-way count as spaces under § 445-43A, and each space must be at least 9 feet by 18 feet.

In every district where a Scranton homeowner actually lives, an ADU is a by-right accessory use approved over the counter. § 445-38 routes P uses straight to staff: they must comply with the chapter's performance and supplementary standards, and 'Applications for a zoning permit, a certificate of use and occupancy, and a building permit must be submitted to the Zoning Officer following the provisions and procedures found in § 445-74.' The Zoning Officer must grant or deny within 30 business days under § 445-74B(1)(d)[4], with an appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board. Two non-residential districts are the exception: an ADU is a conditional use (City Council hearing) in 17 Town-City Institutional and a special exception (Zoning Hearing Board hearing) in 18 Civic. A building permit under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code is separate; the city enforces the 2021 ICC series as modified by the UCC, and plans submitted from 2026-01-01 must use the 2021 codes.

Chapter 445 places no cap on renting an ADU to a long-term tenant and no separate-sale or minimum-lease rule. What does apply is the city's Rental Act, Chapter 373 (Ord. No. 36-2022): § 373-6A requires a landlord to obtain a rental license for each residential rental unit in every calendar year it is occupied, and bars collecting rent during any period of noncompliance. Renewals are due by March 15 and a newly tenanted unit must be licensed within 30 days; the city charges $45 per unit for properties with 1 to 3 units and inspects on a three-year cycle. Short-term renting is a different accessory use with its own district codes: by right in R-6, but a Zoning Hearing Board special exception in R-8, R-9, R-10 and R-11. § 445-30 then requires the dwelling to be the owner's permanent address occupied at least six months of the year, limits guests to seven continuous days, and lets the city end the short-term rental use if a guest is convicted of disturbing the peace.