ADU Pass
Flagler County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Flagler 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
Flagler County regulates accessory dwelling units on unincorporated parcels through the Flagler County Land Development Code (LDC), administered by Flagler County Growth Management. Flagler is a small, fast-growing Atlantic-coastal county between St. Johns (north) and Volusia (south); the dominant population center is the City of Palm Coast, a large master-planned community platted by ITT Community Development Corporation in the late 1960s and incorporated in 1999. Other incorporated jurisdictions are Bunnell (county seat), Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, and Marineland. Unincorporated Flagler includes western agricultural parcels and the Matanzas-area coastal/riverine zone. § 163.31771 FS is permissive only; Flagler's ADU rules arise from local zoning.
Code citations:
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. Flagler retains full discretion until enactment.
Adopting body: Flagler County Board of County Commissioners
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Permits for ADUs on unincorporated Flagler County parcels are issued by Flagler County Growth Management. Unincorporated Flagler is substantially smaller in population than Palm Coast but covers the majority of the county's land area, including western agricultural tracts and the Matanzas-area coastal/riverine fringe.
Process overview: A Flagler County ADU permit is a combined zoning/building review: (1) zoning verification; (2) submission of site plan and construction drawings via Accela; (3) planning review including flood-zone, CCCL (for Atlantic-adjacent parcels), and wetland checks; (4) building-code plan review against the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023); (5) septic review by Florida DOH in Flagler County for parcels outside central sewer; (6) issuance, inspections, CO.
Impact fees: Flagler County assesses school, transportation, parks, and fire impact fees. ADUs on existing single-family parcels face a reduced assessment relative to a full single-family dwelling. (schedule)
County assessor
The Flagler County Property Appraiser maintains parcel-level assessment records for all real property in Flagler County, including parcels within Palm Coast, Bunnell, Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, and Marineland. ADU additions are assessed as improvements to the host parcel. Florida's Save Our Homes 3% cap applies to the primary dwelling; improvements are added at full just value in the completion year. § 193.703 FS 'granny-flat' 20% assessment reduction is available.
Assessment policy: Permit data flows from Growth Management to the Property Appraiser. Homestead remains on the primary dwelling; ADUs do not carry independent homestead unless owner-occupied.
County overlays (5)
Flagler County administers flood, coastal, and wetland overlays. Atlantic-front parcels (primarily in Flagler Beach and Beverly Beach) face VE-zone flood mapping and CCCL exposure; inland riverine and wetland parcels along Pellicer Creek, the Matanzas River, and the Intracoastal Waterway face AE-zone mapping.
- FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — AE zones are extensive along the Intracoastal Waterway, Matanzas River, and tidal marshes. VE zones affect Atlantic frontage. ADUs in SFHA require elevation, flood vents, and flood-resistant materials.
- Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) — Atlantic-front Flagler parcels seaward of the CCCL require state DEP permit in addition to county approval. Applicable to Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, and Marineland primarily.
- Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR) / Matanzas River Aquatic Preserve — Northern Flagler parcels on the Matanzas River fall within the GTM NERR and Matanzas River Aquatic Preserve. Enhanced wetland and water-quality review applies to ADUs on adjacent parcels.
- St. Johns River Water Management District Wellhead Protection — Parcels within mapped wellhead-protection zones face enhanced septic-siting review.
- Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) — Western and inland Flagler tracts abutting pine-flatwoods face moderate WUI exposure.
Known county issues (1)
- policy-review — Pending Florida SB 48 / HB 313 (2026 session) — if enacted, Flagler County and its five incorporated municipalities face a December 1, 2026 local ordinance compliance deadline for statewide by-right ADU allowance in single-family zones. Refresh within 30 days of enactment.
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.