ADU Pass
Fort White
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Fort White, Columbia 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
Fort White is a small town near Ichetucknee Springs State Park. ADUs permitted with district-specific setbacks and lot-size minimums.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $2,400 | $24,750 | $27,150 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,400 | $99,000 | $101,400 |
| midpoint | 575 | $2,400 | $94,875 | $97,275 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $2,400 | $165,000 | $167,400 |
Fee breakdown
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental permitted; landlord-tenant law applies.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Ichetucknee Springs tourism supports STR demand; check town and county STR rules.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: yes Rural / agricultural zones support broad ag uses.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU permitted; § 193.703 FS reduction available.
Incentives
Utilities
- Water: Town of Fort White Water / private well · 30d connect · $5,500
- Sewer: Septic system (no central sewer) · 45d connect · $8,000
- Electric: Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative / Duke Energy · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Propane (no piped natural gas) · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 12mo · worst 18mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Fort White is mostly platted lots without HOA coverage.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- spring-protection
Ichetucknee Springs spring protection zone may apply; nitrate-reduction onsite-sewage rules. - wind
Fort White in 130 mph ASCE 7-22 ultimate wind-design zone. - rural-agricultural
Surrounded by agriculture and silviculture.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Town of Fort White Code of Ordinances — Zoning, adopted 2010-01-01, last amended 2024-01-01
- 2020-01-01 — Fort White zoning update (city-ordinance)
Conforming amendments aligning with state framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards.
Known issues (2)
- issue —
- issue —
Columbia County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Columbia County (Lake City; I-10/I-75 interchange; panhandle rural) has no standalone accessory dwelling unit ordinance. Accessory dwelling provisions, where they exist, sit inside the general Land Development Regulations (LDR) under Article 9 (accessory structures) and the zoning district use tables in Article 4. Most rural zoning districts (Agriculture-3, Agriculture-5, Residential Single-Family, Residential Mixed) allow a single accessory dwelling or 'guest house' subject to lot size, setback, and single-use-by-family occupancy limits. Florida § 163.31771 (permissive ADU statute) applies but is not affirmatively adopted by local ordinance here. No preemptive floor is imposed by any state law at the county level.
County regulatory overlays
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
- 32038
Post Office
- 318 SW Holstein Ave, 32038