ADU rules in Sturgis

Sturgis's zoning code (Chapter 156) has no accessory dwelling, guest house or second-dwelling use in any district, and no detached second home is listed as a permitted or review use in the residential districts. The code defines an accessory building as a structure 'for the shelter, support or enclosure of animals or chattels', so a backyard cottage cannot be permitted as an accessory structure, and the Agricultural district expressly limits land to 'not more than one residential structure'. The only 'secondary residential use' in the code is a temporary residential conditional use of up to 1,000 sq ft inside a General Industrial (GI-1) building, which is not a backyard ADU.

There is no ADU use, and two-family (duplex, over-under) dwellings are not a listed use in any ordinary residential district; they appear only inside a planned unit development of one acre or more, a use on review. The by-right route to a second unit is the 'attached single-family dwelling': in the Low Density and Medium Density Residential districts (and R-3, which allows every R-1 and R-2 use) the code permits attached single-family dwellings for two to seven families, at most two stories, divided by a one-hour separation wall running from the foundation to the underside of the roof. So a side-by-side attached unit built to that standard is permitted, but a basement or upstairs apartment inside an existing house is not a recognized use. The Single-Family Residential/Office Commercial district (GC-3) bars attached single-family dwellings outright.

Because Sturgis has no ADU use, there is no ADU floor-area cap. An attached single-family dwelling may be no more than two stories, and the whole lot is limited to 45% coverage by permanent structures in the Medium Density district (6,000 sq ft minimum lot) and 40% in the Low Density district (7,000 sq ft minimum lot), with a 2.5-story district height limit. The 1,000 sq ft cap on a 'secondary residential use' in § 156.499(A)(3)(e) and § 156.272(B)(3) applies to the General Industrial residential conditional use, not to homes in residential districts.

Nothing in Chapter 156 requires the owner to live on a lot with an attached single-family dwelling; the code describes these units as 'intended for sale or lease'. South Dakota has no state ADU owner-occupancy rule either way.

The Low and Medium Density district rules require 'a minimum of one 400 square feet of hard surface parking' configured to hold at least two cars 'for each single-family home', and attached single-family dwellings are defined as single-family dwelling units, so each unit needs its own pad. The citywide off-street table in § 156.389 lists two spaces per unit for single, two-family and semi-detached dwellings and one and one-fourth spaces per unit for 'multiple-family and attached' dwellings; the district rule is the more specific and stricter read. Drives and pads must be asphalt or concrete.

Attached single-family dwellings are listed permitted uses in the Low and Medium Density Residential districts, so they need only a building permit from the Building Inspector (applied for through the city's CitizenServe portal). Uses on review, including a planned unit development, go to a public hearing before the City Council sitting as the Board of Adjustment under § 156.499.

The code allows attached single-family dwellings to be built 'for sale or lease', and Sturgis has no short-term or vacation rental licensing chapter, no rental registration and no owner-presence test. Stays under 28 consecutive days owe the 1% municipal gross receipts tax on lodging (§ 34.32) on top of state sales and tourism tax; the hotel and motel business improvement district occupancy tax covers only the GC-1, GC-2, GC-3 and HS-1 commercial districts and exempts 'private residences leased for guest sleeping accommodations for 15 or fewer days annually'. A whole home rented nightly or weekly for more than 14 days a year is a state-licensed vacation home establishment (SDCL 34-18-1(17)). Yard camping during the rally is regulated separately under Chapter 91, which Ord. 2026-03 revised in May 2026.