ADU Pass
Pinetta
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Pinetta, 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. Pinetta 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 Madison County zoning class (Pinetta is unincorporated) (~5d)
Pinetta is an unincorporated CDP at the FL/GA line; no town hall. Verify zoning (typically Agriculture-2 or Residential per County Land Development Code) with Madison County Planning & Zoning at 229 SW Pinckney St, Suite 219. - DOH-Madison septic / SRWMD well permit (~14d)
Pinetta has no central water/sewer; Florida DOH-Madison issues septic (OSTDS) construction permit prior to building permit; well construction permit through Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD). - Madison County Cloudpermit application (~2d)
Submit county building permit application at us.cloudpermit.com or download from madisoncountyfl.com. Site plan, floor plans, FBC 8th Ed. structural calcs (140 mph Vult, Risk Cat II), energy form, contractor or owner-builder docs. - County plan review (~21d)
Madison County Building Department reviews structural, MEP, energy. Floodplain check if parcel touches Withlacoochee River SFHA; rural-fire access and address verification by County 911 Addressing. - Notice of Commencement and permit issuance (~3d)
Owner files NOC with Madison County Clerk for projects greater than $2,500, posts certified copy on site; pays permit, impact, and capacity fees through Cloudpermit; permit card printed for site posting. - Field inspections (county route)
Madison County Building inspector visits Pinetta on weekly route (Tue/Thu typical): setback/temp power, foundation, framing, MEP rough, insulation, final. DOH septic final separately. - Certificate of Occupancy and 911 address activation (~7d)
Final inspection clears; County 911 Addressing assigns/activates address; C.O. issued; ADU eligible for occupancy and STR registration through DBPR if applicable.
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 county 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: Private well typical; limited municipal water in some areas · $8,000
- Sewer: Septic typical; municipal sewer rare · $12,000
- 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.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- other
Pinetta is in a rural / agricultural land-use context. Agricultural exemptions and right-to-farm provisions (Ch. 823.14 Fla. Stat.) may interact with ADU siting near working farms. - wetland-overlay
Wetland delineation may be required where parcels border lakes, streams, or jurisdictional wetlands. SWFWMD/SJRWMD/SRWMD/NWFWMD jurisdiction applies depending on basin.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Madison County Land Development Code — Accessory Dwellings / Guest Houses, adopted 2010-01-01, 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
- 32350
Post Office
- 115 NE Poplar Ave, 32350