ADU Pass
Calhoun County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Calhoun County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 4 cities and 4 ZIP codes in this county.
Map
County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Calhoun County is a small rural panhandle Florida county (population ~13,000, Blountstown is the county seat) with a forestry / timber and small-scale agriculture economic base. Non-charter commission government. The Calhoun County Land Development Code (LDC), administered by the Planning & Building Department under the Board of County Commissioners, governs unincorporated land use. The LDC does NOT contain a standalone ADU ordinance; accessory dwellings appear through A-1 Agricultural district second-dwelling provisions (second dwelling allowed on parcels >=5 acres in most ag zones), R-1 Rural Residential guest-house allowances, and MH (mobile-home) district second-mobile-home allowances. The county has three incorporated municipalities (Blountstown ~2,400, Altha ~500, and a few other small places). Hurricane Michael (2018) caused catastrophic damage to Calhoun County — essentially every tree in the longleaf/slash-pine timber stands was damaged or destroyed, and reconstruction remains ongoing in some sectors. No standalone ADU rulemaking is pending as of 2026-04-20.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Almost all of Calhoun County's area is unincorporated. ADU-adjacent construction is permitted by the Calhoun County Building Department at the county courthouse in Blountstown. Calhoun uses the Florida Building Code as adopted. Paper/email intake; no ePermits portal. Typical single-family permit review 3-5 weeks. Hurricane Michael (2018) rebuild activity has dominated the department's workload 2018-present.
County assessor
Calhoun County property assessment is performed by the Calhoun County Property Appraiser, an elected constitutional officer based in Blountstown. The appraiser maintains parcel records for all ~11,000 parcels. Standard Florida rules apply (Save Our Homes, 10% non-homestead cap, new-construction carve-out, ag classification). Timberland (F.S. 193.461 ag) is the dominant Greenbelt category; cattle, row crops, and pecan orchards round out the ag base. Residential values are among the lowest in Florida — typical single-family $50k-$150k.
Assessment policy: Standard Florida new-construction at full just value; subsequent caps. Post-Michael reconstruction carve-out (F.S. 193.155(4)(b)) applies broadly here. Timberland ag-classification retention is the main rural ADU consideration.
County overlays (4)
Calhoun County overlays: (1) FEMA SFHAs along the Chipola River and Apalachicola River (west edge) — otherwise most of the county is Zone X; (2) NWFWMD jurisdiction including Chipola River protection; (3) Florida Building Code 130-140 mph non-HVHZ design-wind-speed; (4) Hurricane Michael reconstruction overlay — dominant post-2018 regulatory context; (5) minor karst / Dougherty Plain influence in parts of the county (less extensive than Jackson County to the north).
Known county issues (5)
- policy-review — Calhoun County (pop ~13,000) would likely be covered. Current LDC handles accessory dwellings through district-level provisions; a mandate-compliant ordinance would formalize size, setback, owner-occupancy.
- other — Calhoun County was among the most heavily damaged Florida counties per capita from Hurricane Michael. Rebuild permits remain common; ADU addition during rebuild can trip the F.S. 193.155(4)(b) reconstruction carve-out on incremental area. Separate rebuild + ADU timing preserves the carve-out on the main dwelling.
- staffing-shortage — Calhoun County Building Department is a small operation with email/PDF intake. Michael rebuild has consumed significant bandwidth for 5+ years. Expect 3-5 week permit turnaround in normal times.
- other — Most of Calhoun's inland area is timberland under F.S. 193.461 ag classification. An ADU on a timberland parcel raises the same ag-classification-retention questions as elsewhere.
- other — Calhoun residential valuations are among the lowest in Florida ($50k-$150k typical). ADU rental ROI can be competitive on a cost-basis but absolute rents are modest; long-term rental tenant pool is limited.
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.