ADU Pass
Madison
Madison County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Madison, Madison County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 2 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Florida has no statewide ADU preemption; local ordinance is the binding constraint. Madison permits ADUs subject to local conditions.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,900 | $30,000 | $31,900 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,900 | $120,000 | $121,900 |
| midpoint | 575 | $1,900 | $115,000 | $116,900 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $1,900 | $200,000 | $201,900 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,900 | $200,000 | $201,900 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Pre-application meeting with City Community Development (~5d)
Schedule walk-in or phone consultation with Mary Graham, Director of Community Development (321 SW Rutledge St). Confirm zoning, R-1/R-2/R-3 setbacks, lot area, owner-occupancy expectations and historic-overlay status (downtown Madison Historic District). - Cloudpermit application submittal (~1d)
Apply through Madison's Cloudpermit instance at us.cloudpermit.com. Upload signed/sealed plans (FBC 8th Ed., 140 mph Vult), site survey with septic/sewer location, energy code form, and contractor or owner-builder declaration. - Zoning compliance review (~10d)
City zoning checks setbacks, lot coverage, and accessory-use compliance with City Code Chapter 8 / land development regs. Historic-overlay review by City of Madison if parcel is contributing. - Building plan review (FBC 8th Ed.) (~18d)
Structural, energy, plumbing, mechanical, electrical review by Madison County Building Department under interlocal services. Wind exposure C/D, no flood zone for most city parcels; engineer-of-record sign-off required. - Notice of Commencement and permit issuance (~3d)
Record NOC with Madison County Clerk for projects > $2,500; pay City + County combined fees through Cloudpermit; receive printable permit card. - Field inspections
Inspector visits at: temp power/setback, slab/foundation, framing, plumbing-rough, electric-rough, mechanical-rough, insulation, drywall, final. Sewer inspection by City of Madison Public Works on city-sewered lots. - Certificate of Occupancy (~5d)
Building Official issues C.O. once final inspection clears; ADU eligible for occupancy and rental.
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 Madison Zoning Ordinance — Accessory Dwellings, adopted 1838-01-01, 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 Codes
- 32340
- 32350
Post Office
- 197 SW Pinckney St, 32340