ADU rules in Laramie

A detached backyard ADU is allowed by right on a single-family lot in the RR (Rural Residential), LR and R1 (Low-Density Residential) districts. LMC 15.10.030.D.6 provides that an accessory dwelling unit 'may be attached or detached from the principal structure on the property', and the definition at LMC 15.28.030.A(125) confines the term 'accessory dwelling' to R1, LR and RR because the R2, R2M and R3 districts draw no distinction between principal and accessory dwellings and already allow additional units by lot area. The city's zoning page states it plainly: 'Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are permitted in RR, LR, and R1.' Only one ADU is allowed per detached one-unit dwelling lot. ADUs became legal in Laramie only with Ord. 1807 (4-19-2022); city staff wrote in 2024 that 'Until recently Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) were not permitted within the City of Laramie.'

The same subsection covers attached and internal units: the ADU 'may be attached or detached from the principal structure', and a later item applies the unit-size limits to 'ADUs within the principal structures', which is how basement and above-garage conversions are handled. The April 2024 city staff memo describes the choice as 'Part of the current structure (basement or above an attached garage) or in a separate structure.' The practical hurdles for a conversion are the two independence rules: the ADU must have a separate access from the principal structure (D.6.d) and separate utility access (D.6.e), and LMC 15.10.030.C.5 carves ADUs out of the same-meter rule for one- and two-family dwellings. One ADU per lot either way.

Two caps stack. The footprint rule reads: 'The building footprint of the accessory dwelling unit may be to forty percent of the building footprint of the principal dwelling unit or six hundred square feet, whichever amount is lesser.' Floor area is then capped separately: 'The maximum square footage of an accessory dwelling shall be no more than one thousand two hundred square feet. ADUs must have a minimum square footage of two hundred twenty square feet.' So a two-story detached unit can reach the full 1,200 sq ft on a 600 sq ft footprint, while a single-story one is effectively held to 600 sq ft. Height may not exceed the principal structure, and Table 15.12-2 caps accessory buildings at 24 feet in RR, LR and R1. Watch the separate accessory-building budget in LMC 15.10.030.C.3: all accessory buildings on the lot together (ADU plus garage and sheds) may cover at most 1,000 sq ft or the largest principal structure's footprint, whichever is less, with no more than two accessory buildings unless a conditional use permit is granted.

Laramie imposes no owner-occupancy condition, either at application or on an ongoing basis. Nothing in the ADU standards at LMC 15.10.030.D.6, in the 'Dwelling, accessory' definition, or anywhere else in the Unified Development Code ties an ADU to the owner living on the property; the only ownership rule is LMC 15.10.030.C.4, 'Same Ownership Required. The principal use and the accessory use shall be under the same ownership', which keeps the two units in one ownership and so rules out selling the ADU separately rather than requiring occupancy. The city's April 2024 staff memo to the Urban Renewal Agency confirms the practice: 'The City of Laramie does not restrict how an ADU is used. It may be rented out or occupied by a family member.' Wyoming has no statute on ADU owner occupancy in either direction.

The ADU standards now end with 'No additional on-site parking shall be required for an Accessory Dwelling Unit', created by Ord. 1872 sec. 5 on 10-7-2025 as part of a housing-cost package that also cut minimum lot sizes and widened parking credits. The principal dwelling still owes the 1 space per dwelling unit that Table 15.14.040-3 requires of a single-family detached home, and Ord. 1807 (4-19-2022) had already deleted the older rule that every single-family dwelling in LR and R1 have a garage. The general accessory-use sentence in LMC 15.10.030.C.1.b ('Parking requirements shall be met for both the principal use and any accessory use') still sits in the same section, but the ADU-specific and later-adopted exemption is the operative rule for ADUs.

A conforming ADU is approved administratively. There is no conditional use permit and no site plan review: LMC 15.06.060.O.2 exempts 'single-family detached / attached, IBC / IRC modular homes, manufactured homes, and two-family/ duplex, multifamily developments with less than four units, or accessory structures associated with the preceding residential uses' from Site Plan Review. City staff describe an ADU as 'a one permit process; submitting for a Building Permit is all that would be needed in almost all cases', with the electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits filed alongside it, review running roughly three weeks and about six weeks when one resubmittal is needed. A hearing enters the picture only in unusual cases: a lot already carrying a conditional use permit that must be amended, an accessory-building footprint above the 1,000 sq ft aggregate cap, or a third accessory building (15.10.030.C.3). Since 7-1-2026 the state Fast Track Permits Act also puts a shot clock on the building permit itself (see caveats).

Laramie does not restrict who occupies an ADU, but it does register rentals: LMC 8.80.060.A provides that 'All rental housing, including each dwelling unit, in the city must be registered by its owner with the city on a form and in a manner to be determined by the city manager', with an owner's agent living in Wyoming within 60 miles of Laramie, renewal every two years, and a fee set by council resolution (currently $20 per year, $40 for two years, per dwelling unit). City staff apply this to ADUs: 'If the ADU is rented out it would be required to be registered under Laramie's rental housing ordinance and registration process.' Short-term rental is a gap rather than a regime: the Unified Development Code never defines or lists short-term rentals, Title 5 has no rental licensing chapter, and stays of less than 30 consecutive days are 'transient lodging', which LMC 8.80.020 excludes from rental housing registration. The city's own ADU handout annotates the R1 district with '(allowing ABnBs)'. Selling the ADU off is not possible: LMC 15.10.030.C.4 keeps the principal and accessory uses under the same ownership.