ADU Pass
Baker County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Baker County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 3 cities and 4 ZIP codes in this county.
Map
County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Baker County is a rural north-Florida county (population ~29,000, Macclenny is the county seat) immediately west of Duval County (Jacksonville), with I-10 cutting through the county. Non-charter commission government. Timber / forestry is the dominant industry; Baker also hosts several Florida prison facilities (Baker Correctional Institution complex, Northeast Florida State Hospital). The Okefenokee Swamp and Osceola National Forest cover large portions of the county. The Baker County Land Development Regulations (LDRs), administered by the Planning & Zoning Department, govern unincorporated land use; the county has two incorporated municipalities (Macclenny ~6,700, Glen St. Mary ~500). The LDRs do NOT contain a standalone ADU ordinance; accessory dwellings appear through A-1 Agricultural (second dwelling on parcels >=5 acres), R-1 residential guest-house allowances, and explicit mobile-home second-dwelling provisions. Jacksonville-adjacent location is producing increasing suburban growth pressure along the SR 121 and US 90 corridors. No pending ADU rulemaking as of 2026-04-20.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Most of Baker County's ~585 sq mi area is unincorporated. ADU-adjacent construction is permitted by the Baker County Building Department at the county courthouse complex in Macclenny. Uses Florida Building Code as adopted. Email/PDF intake; basic online forms. Typical single-family permit review 3-5 weeks. Jacksonville-adjacent commuter parcels drive a moderate permit volume.
County assessor
Baker County property assessment is performed by the Baker County Property Appraiser, an elected constitutional officer based in Macclenny. The appraiser maintains parcel records for all ~18,000 parcels. Standard Florida rules apply. Timberland (F.S. 193.461 ag) dominates interior parcels; residential along I-10 / US 90 / SR 121 corridors is seeing rapid Jacksonville-suburbia appreciation. Typical values $100k-$300k rural, $250k-$500k suburbanizing corridors.
Assessment policy: Standard Florida new-construction at full just value; subsequent caps. Timberland ag-classification retention is the main rural consideration; Jacksonville-adjacent suburban parcels face more active appreciation dynamics.
County overlays (5)
Baker County overlays: (1) Extensive wetlands overlay — the Okefenokee Swamp extends into the county and the Osceola National Forest covers much of the interior, limiting buildable parcels; (2) St. Marys River FEMA SFHAs (northern county boundary); (3) SJRWMD jurisdiction with wetland-protection BMAPs; (4) Osceola National Forest federal overlay (USFS); (5) Florida Building Code 120-130 mph non-HVHZ design-wind-speed (interior north Florida); (6) hurricane-evacuation-route designation on I-10 (relevant for growth-management but not directly ADU-restrictive); (7) Jacksonville-adjacent growth corridor overlay in the county's eastern third.
Known county issues (4)
- policy-review — Baker County (pop ~29,000) would be covered. Current LDRs handle accessory dwellings through district-level provisions.
- other — Okefenokee Swamp, Osceola National Forest, and widespread SJRWMD-jurisdictional wetlands mean a large share of the county is unbuildable. ADU feasibility is primarily a parcel-selection question — growth-corridor parcels along SR 121, US 90, and I-10 are much more permissive than interior timberland.
- other — Eastern Baker along commuter routes to Jacksonville sees growing ADU demand. Long-term tenant pools (Jacksonville commuters, hospital workers, correctional-facility staff) support rental ADUs in growth corridors. Rural-interior parcels face much thinner rental markets.
- other — Baker's interior timberland under F.S. 193.461 ag classification raises the same retention questions on ADU addition as other ag-heavy counties.
Florida state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Florida does NOT currently have a statewide ADU preemption law in effect. Florida Statutes § 163.31771 (enacted 2004, last amended 2020) is permissive — it authorizes local governments to adopt ADU ordinances but does not require them to. ADU rules are therefore set municipality-by-municipality: Miami-Dade, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and a growing set of Florida cities have their own ordinances; many smaller counties and cities still prohibit or restrict ADUs by default. A preemption bill (SB 48 / HB 313) is pending in the 2026 legislative session and is likely to pass given that its 2025 predecessor cleared the Senate 37-0 and House 97-10 before dying on a procedural amendment dispute.
- Florida Statutes § 163.31771 — Accessory dwelling units — Permissive (not mandatory) statute. Defines an ADU as 'an ancillary or secondary living unit, that has a separate kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area, existing either within the same structure, or on the same lot, as the primary dwelling unit.' Authorizes — but does not require — local governments to adopt ordinances allowing ADUs in single-family residential zones. Contains no size caps, no owner-occupancy rules, no HOA preemption. All substantive rulemaking is local.
State financing programs
Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) does not operate an ADU-specific state loan or grant program. FHFC's primary affordable-housing lever at the ADU tier is the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), which distributes state documentary-stamp-tax revenue to all 67 counties and 52 entitlement cities for locally-administered housing programs — some of which may fund ADU construction at the local level (notably Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program, run through the Orange County Housing Finance Trust). FHFC's FL Assist down-payment programs and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage conventional loans apply to ADU-eligible primary residences but do not single out ADUs. Proposed CS/SB 1440 would create a state property-tax exemption of up to 100% of assessed value for an ADU rented at affordable rates.
State housing programs
Florida does not currently operate a statewide pre-approved ADU plan catalog (unlike California or Washington). State-level ADU implementation is driven by (a) the permissive § 163.31771 which lets willing jurisdictions adopt ordinances, (b) SHIP pass-through funding to local ADU programs (Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program is the model), and (c) the affordable-housing property-tax exemption under the Live Local Act (SB 102 / SB 328). The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) — now reorganized as the Department of Commerce — provides technical assistance to local governments but no statewide ADU-specific mandate or program. Major counties (Miami-Dade, Orange, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Broward) have published their own ADU ordinances and guidance documents.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.