ADU rules in Corpus Christi

The UDC expressly allows one detached accessory dwelling unit per lot in any residential zoning district, and the unit may include a full kitchen. Residential zoning district covers FR, RE, RS-22, RS-15, RS-10, RS-6, RS-4.5, RS-TH, RS-TF, RM-1, RM-2, RM-3, RM-AT, and R-MH per Table 4.1.1. ADUs are an accessory use to Household Living, subject to the size, owner-occupancy, and bulk standards in §5.3.2.A. They are not allowed in Cottage Housing Developments or mixed-use developments.

The UDC's ADU authorization is expressly for detached units; no provision authorizes an attached ADU, and a structurally attached second unit is classified as a two-family house, a principal use permitted only in RS-TF, RS-TH, and multifamily districts. The one adjacent path is §5.3.2.A.D, which lets a legally conforming garage built before 1980 convert to an ADU (including an upper-story unit over the garage); the clause sits inside the detached-ADU section and does not say whether an attached garage qualifies. Homeowners wanting an attached unit should confirm with Development Services.

The cap depends on the zoning district and can never exceed the main house's gross floor area. Separately, §5.3.1 limits all accessory buildings combined to 50 percent of the principal structure's square footage (75 percent in FR) and requires them to sit behind the front face of the house, and the ADU must fit within district building-coverage and height limits.

The property owner must live on site, in either the main house or the ADU; the other unit can then be occupied or rented. For short-term-rental purposes, the city separately treats an ADU as owner-occupied (Type 1) only when the owner actually occupies the primary dwelling.

Accessory dwelling unit is not a listed line in parking Table 7.2.2.B, so the applied rate is the 2-space catch-all unless staff analogizes to the caretakers-quarters row (1 space for 1 bedroom, 2 spaces for more). Confirm the rate Development Services applies before designing the site.

An ADU is an accessory use to Household Living, and §5.3.1 allows accessory uses that accompany a principal use permitted by right; no special permit or special use exception attaches to ADUs anywhere in the use tables. The §5.3.2.A standards apply administratively, and standard building permits through Development Services are still required. Note the code's soft phrasing ('may be permitted'), which leaves interpretation to staff rather than creating a hearing process.

The zoning code never prohibits renting the non-owner-occupied unit on a normal lease, so a homeowner can live in one unit and rent the other long term. Short-term rental of an ADU is permit-gated, and the owner living in the main house keeps the ADU in the friendlier Type 1 category with no block-face cap; a Type 2 approval above the cap takes a special exception ($650 fee). On Padre and Mustang Island, the one-month minimum effectively bars ADU short-term rentals in single-family zones.