ADU Pass
Tallahassee
Leon County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 10 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Florida partially preempts local ADU restrictions; cities retain authority over design and setbacks. Tallahassee permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $2,400 | $31,200 | $33,600 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,400 | $124,800 | $127,200 |
| midpoint | 575 | $2,400 | $119,600 | $122,000 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $2,400 | $208,000 | $210,400 |
Fee breakdown
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU generally permitted; landlord-tenant law and any city rental-registration ordinance apply.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR rules vary by city. Tallahassee regulates STRs separately from ADU permitting; check local STR ordinance and HOA covenants.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or rezoning.
- 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 in single-family zones.
Utilities
- Water: Tallahassee Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Tallahassee Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Tallahassee Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Tallahassee Gas Utility · 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 (2)
- flood-zone
Tallahassee has FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas; elevation certificates and flood-resistant construction required for SFHA parcels. - historic-district
Tallahassee historic districts trigger Architectural Review Board / Historic Preservation Commission review for ADUs in historic boundaries.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Tallahassee Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Tallahassee ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Florida accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Leon County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Leon County (Tallahassee, the state capital; home to Florida State University and Florida A&M University; ~300,000 residents) regulates accessory dwelling units in unincorporated areas through the Leon County Land Development Code (LDC), Chapter 10 (Zoning) and the joint City of Tallahassee / Leon County Comprehensive Plan administered by the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department. Accessory dwelling units (also called 'guest cottages' or 'garage apartments' in older code provisions) are permitted by right in most rural and large-lot residential districts (Rural, R-1, R-3) subject to lot-area minimums (typically 1+ acres in Rural, 0.5 acre in R-1), maximum unit size (commonly 1,000 sq ft or 50% of principal dwelling, whichever is less), single-occupancy-by-family-members historic restrictions that have been progressively relaxed under Florida F.S. § 163.31771 since 2020, and required owner-occupancy of either the primary or accessory unit. Florida F.S. § 163.31771 (permissive ADU statute) applies; Leon County has affirmatively adopted ADU-enabling provisions in concert with the City of Tallahassee's parallel zoning code. The county and city share a unified planning department, which is unusual in Florida and means ADU rules are coordinated across the urban service area.
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 Codes
- 32301
- 32303
- 32304
- 32305
- 32308
- 32309
- 32310
- 32311
- 32312
- 32317
Post Office
- 1845 N M L King Jr Blvd, 32303
- 2020 W Pensacola St Ste 100, 32304
- 2355 Centerville Rd, 32308
- 2800 S Adams St, 32301
- 3607 N Monroe St, 32303