ADU Pass
Lee
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Lee, Madison 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
Florida has no statewide ADU preemption; local ordinance is the binding constraint. Lee permits ADUs subject to local conditions.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,700 | $29,250 | $30,950 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,700 | $117,000 | $118,700 |
| midpoint | 575 | $1,700 | $112,125 | $113,825 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $1,700 | $195,000 | $196,700 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,700 | $195,000 | $196,700 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Confirm Lee zoning and Madison County LDC compliance (~4d)
Town of Lee has no full-time planner; verify zoning district (mostly Residential / Mixed Use along US 90) with Town Hall, then cross-check Madison County Land Development Code accessory-dwelling standards (setbacks, lot size, septic capacity). - Madison County BOCC Cloudpermit application (~2d)
Submit building permit through Madison County's Cloudpermit portal (county handles plan review for Lee under interlocal arrangement). Upload site plan, floor plans, elevations, FBC 8th Ed. wind/load calcs, septic permit (DOH-Madison) or sewer-tap letter. - Town zoning sign-off (~5d)
Lee Town Clerk forwards zoning compliance verification to Madison County before plan review begins; in-town parcels also pay the small Town building/zoning compliance fee. - County plan review (FBC 8th Ed., wind, septic) (~21d)
Madison County Building Department reviews structural (140 mph Vult, Risk Cat II), energy (FBC Energy Conservation), plumbing/electrical/mechanical, and floodplain if parcel touches the Withlacoochee River 100-year floodplain. - Notice of Commencement (>$2,500) and permit issuance (~3d)
Owner records NOC with Madison County Clerk of Courts, posts certified copy on site, pays county permit/impact fees through Cloudpermit; permit card issued for posting. - Sequential field inspections
Madison County inspector covers Lee under the same route: setback/temporary-power, foundation/slab, framing, rough plumbing/electric/mechanical, insulation, final. Septic inspections coordinated with DOH-Madison. - Certificate of Occupancy (~5d)
Final inspection + DOH septic clearance triggers C.O. issuance; ADU eligible for occupancy and (if registered) STR licensing through DBPR.
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU permitted; Florida landlord-tenant law (Ch. 83) applies.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR registration may apply per city vacation-rental ordinance and Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) licensing.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or rezoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with conditions on signage and traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist/maker studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Rural-zoned parcels permit limited agriculture; livestock varies by district.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted in residential zones.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Madison County or local utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Madison County or local utility · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Duke Energy / FPL / local cooperative · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Propane typical (no municipal natural gas) · 14d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 16mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Standard rural-road transport with permitted oversize loads
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Florida Ch. 720 HOA, Ch. 718 condo, and Ch. 719 cooperative statutes do not preempt HOA-level ADU bans. Recorded covenants control where they exist.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Lee Zoning Ordinance — Accessory Dwellings, adopted 1909-01-01, last amended 2024-01-01
- 2022-09-28 — Hurricane Ian landfall (state-event)
Cat 4 hurricane made landfall near Cayo Costa, severely impacting southwest Florida coastal communities.
Effect: Indirect effect on insurance market - 2024-01-01 — Florida Building Code 8th Edition update (building-code)
Statewide adoption of FBC 8th Edition (IECC 2020 base with Florida amendments).
Effect: Updated wind, energy, and structural standards apply to new accessory dwellings
Madison County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Madison County (Madison; panhandle east on the Georgia border; ~19,000 residents; I-10 corridor) has no standalone ADU ordinance. Accessory dwelling rules sit inside the Madison County Land Development Regulations administered by the Board of County Commissioners. Rural residential and agricultural districts permit one accessory dwelling with lot-size, setback, and family-occupancy constraints. Florida F.S. § 163.31771 applies.
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
- 32059
Post Office
- 7760 E US Highway 90, 32059