ADU Pass
Englewood
Charlotte County portion
Also in: No County · Sarasota County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Englewood, Charlotte County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Englewood is an unincorporated community split across Charlotte and Sarasota counties. ADUs on the Charlotte-county side follow Charlotte County zoning and impact fees.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $2,400 | $31,500 | $33,900 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,400 | $126,000 | $128,400 |
| midpoint | 575 | $2,400 | $120,750 | $123,150 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $2,400 | $210,000 | $212,400 |
Fee breakdown
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU generally permitted; landlord-tenant law applies.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Englewood STR rules — check minimum-stay limits, registration, and HOA covenants.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with restrictions on signage and customer traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture permitted in residential zones; livestock varies by district.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted; § 193.703 FS granny-flat assessment reduction available.
Utilities
- Water: Charlotte County Utilities · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Charlotte County Utilities · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Florida Power & Light (FPL) · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: TECO Peoples Gas / propane · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 16mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Florida has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Regulatory overlays (4)
- flood-zone
Lemon Bay and Gulf-front AE/VE-zone parcels; elevation certificates required. - coastal-construction
Gulf-front parcels seaward of CCCL. - coastal-high-hazard
Within Coastal High Hazard Area; comp-plan review on intensification of residential. - hurricane-recovery
Hurricane Ian (Sep 2022) passed directly over Charlotte County; rebuild and elevation upgrades continue to shape permitting.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Charlotte County Code of Ordinances — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2018-01-01, last amended 2024-01-01
- 2024-01-01 — Charlotte County unincorporated ADU code refresh (county-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Florida accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Known issues (1)
- issue —
Charlotte County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Charlotte County regulates accessory dwelling units on unincorporated parcels through the Charlotte County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 3-5 (Zoning Regulations), administered by the Charlotte County Community Development Department. Charlotte is a Gulf-coastal county directly in the Hurricane Ian (Sept 2022) impact zone; Ian made landfall at Cayo Costa / Charlotte Harbor and produced extensive wind and storm-surge damage across Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda Isles, and the southwest portions of the county. Rebuilding activity remains a dominant feature of local permitting volume. The incorporated City of Punta Gorda handles its own permits; Port Charlotte, North Port (in Sarasota County but commonly confused), and the majority of county population live in unincorporated Charlotte. § 163.31771 FS is permissive only; Charlotte's ADU rules are local.
- Charlotte County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 3-5 — Zoning Regulations
- Florida Statutes § 163.31771 — Accessory Dwelling Units
State-floor overlay: No Florida statewide ADU preemption floor exists as of April 2026. SB 48 / HB 313 (2026 session) is the active preemption bill. Charlotte retains full discretion until enactment.
County regulatory overlays
Charlotte County administers flood, coastal, CHHA, and wetland overlays. Gulf-front and Charlotte Harbor-adjacent parcels face extensive AE/VE flood mapping and CCCL exposure; Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve imposes water-quality and mangrove-protection review. Post-Ian, FEMA revised flood-zone boundaries in some Charlotte areas, and the county adopted enhanced freeboard requirements above BFE.
- FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — AE and VE zones are extensive along the Gulf coast, Charlotte Harbor, the Peace River, and the Myakka River. Post-Ian, Charlotte adopted freeboard above BFE (typically 1-2 feet) for new construction. ADUs in SFHA require elevation, flood vents, and flood-resistant materials; VE zones require pile-foundation construction.
- Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA) — Coastal Charlotte parcels fall within CHHA and face heightened comprehensive-plan review on intensification of residential use.
- Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) — Gulf-front Charlotte parcels seaward of the CCCL require state DEP permit in addition to county approval.
- Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve — Parcels adjacent to Charlotte Harbor face enhanced setback, water-quality, and mangrove-protection review. Applies broadly across the county's coastal fringe.
- Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) / South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Wellhead Protection — Parcels within mapped wellhead-protection zones face enhanced septic-siting review. Charlotte is split between SWFWMD and SFWMD boundaries.
- Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) — Rural-eastern Charlotte tracts abutting pine-flatwoods face moderate WUI exposure.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Permits for ADUs on unincorporated Charlotte County parcels are issued by Charlotte County Community Development. Because most of Charlotte's population lives in unincorporated Port Charlotte, Harbour Heights, Burnt Store, Rotonda West, and similar communities, county-level permitting covers the bulk of county ADU activity. The City of Punta Gorda handles its own permits.
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.
ZIP Code
- 34224
Post Office
- 950 S River Rd, 34223