ADU rules in Weirton

Weirton's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) defines an accessory dwelling unit as a smaller, independent unit on the same lot as a detached single-family dwelling that may be attached or detached. Table 1 lists it as an accessory use (A) in R-3, MU and the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Overlay District (PADOD) but as a conditional use (C) in R-1 and R-2, which hold about 73 percent of the city's zoned parcels (8,882 of 12,145 in the city's zoning GIS layer), so most homeowners need a Board of Zoning Appeals Conditional Use permit after a public hearing. A detached ADU is also barred on a lot that has a separate detached garage, although an ADU may be built as a second story over a detached garage if it is no taller than the house (§10.01(B)). ADUs are not listed in C-1, C-2, M-1 or M-2. From January 1, 2027, W. Va. Code §8-42-2(a) and (b) require one attached, detached or internal ADU by right on every lot with a single-family dwelling, which invalidates the R-1 and R-2 hearing requirement to the extent of the conflict.

The same Table 1 row governs attached units: an ADU attached to the house is an accessory use in R-3, MU and the PADOD overlay and needs a Board of Zoning Appeals Conditional Use permit in R-1 and R-2. The UDO definition names attached and detached units; it does not separately mention internal conversions such as a basement apartment, which staff would presumably treat as attached. The same §10.01 limits (one ADU per lot, two bedrooms, size ratios) apply. From January 1, 2027, W. Va. Code §8-42-2(a) and (b) make an attached, detached or internal ADU a by-right use on every lot with a single-family dwelling.

Under §10.01(C) the ADU's gross floor area may not exceed 50 percent of the principal building's floor area, and its footprint (counting patios but not porches) may not exceed 40 percent of the principal residence's footprint. §10.01(D) adds absolute caps of 800 sq ft in R-3 and MU and 1,200 sq ft in R-1 and R-2, counting only the ADU's living area; the 1,200 figure binds only for houses of 2,400 sq ft or more, and the PADOD overlay gets no stated figure. The ADU may have at most two bedrooms (§10.01(A)) and may not exceed two stories or the height of the house, whichever is less (§10.01(F)); Table 2 separately caps residential accessory structures at 15 ft. From January 1, 2027, W. Va. Code §8-42-2(c) protects an attached or detached ADU up to 75 percent of the house's gross floor area or 1,000 sq ft, whichever is less, and §8-42-2(d)(6) and (d)(7) bar height standards stricter than the house's and more onerous development standards, so the 50 percent ratio, the 40 percent footprint ratio, the 800 sq ft cap and the height limits are likely invalid to the extent they are tighter.

Nothing in the UDO's ADU definition or §10.01 requires the owner to live in the house or the ADU, and a full-text search of the December 2025 UDO finds owner occupancy required only for bed and breakfast inns (§10.04(C)), not ADUs. In R-1 and R-2 the Board of Zoning Appeals may attach additional reasonable conditions to a Conditional Use permit (§3.06(A)(2)), so a case-specific condition cannot be ruled out there. West Virginia's ADU article (W. Va. Code §8-42) does not preempt owner-occupancy rules, but from January 1, 2027 a municipality may not require a restrictive covenant concerning an ADU (§8-42-2(d)(8)).

§10.01(G) states that no additional parking is required for an ADU, and Table 3 repeats "No additional spaces required" for the use; parking required for the primary dwelling (2 spaces for a single-family dwelling under Table 3) must be maintained or replaced on site. The 2021 UDO's parking table had demanded 1 space for an ADU despite the same no-parking clause; the 2024 rewrite (Ord. 2232) removed that conflict. This already complies with W. Va. Code §8-42-2(d)(1), which bars additional parking or fees in lieu.

In R-3, MU and the PADOD overlay an ADU is an accessory use that needs only a zoning and building permit with a Type I administrative site plan review by the Planning Director (§4.02(D)(1), (E)). In R-1 and R-2 it is a conditional use: the applicant files a Conditional Use application with a surveyed site plan, the city publishes a Class I legal notice at least 15 days ahead, and the Board of Zoning Appeals decides after a public hearing and may impose conditions (§3.06, §4.02(F), §6.01, §6.02(B)). The process is live: the February 3, 2026 Board of Zoning Appeals agenda carried a Conditional Use request for an ADU at 324 Sunrise Drive, an R-1 parcel. From January 1, 2027, W. Va. Code §8-42-1 and §8-42-2(a) require approval by right without a public hearing or conditional use permit, so the R-1 and R-2 hearing route becomes invalid to that extent; the state also caps the ADU application fee at $250 plus usual building fees (§8-42-3(b)).

The UDO places no rental, tenancy or separate-sale restriction on ADUs, so long-term rental of either unit is allowed. Codified Ordinances Article 1790 bars renting any dwelling unit without a three-year certificate of use and occupancy issued after a Code Official inspection ($20 per unit inspection), with newly constructed rental units exempt for their first five years after the certificate of occupancy (§1790.04, §1790.07, §1790.09(A), §1790.10). Short-term rental is not defined or listed in the UDO; a building offering lodging to transient guests fits the UDO's "Hotel" definition, permitted only in C-1 and C-2, and §9.04(A) prohibits unlisted uses unless the Planning Commission finds them consistent with the ordinance, so nightly rental of an ADU in a residential district is unsettled and should be confirmed with Planning and Development. W. Va. Code §8-42-3(a) leaves short-term rental regulation to the city.