ADU Pass
South Miami
Miami-Dade County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in South Miami, Miami-Dade 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 Building Code 8th Edition (2023) with Miami-Dade HVHZ amendments governs structural review (175 mph design wind; NOA-approved products required).
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $2,400 | $55,000 | $57,400 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,400 | $165,000 | $167,400 |
| midpoint | 500 | $2,400 | $137,500 | $139,900 |
| maximum | 800 | $2,400 | $220,000 | $222,400 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of an ADU is generally permitted; Florida landlord-tenant law (Chapter 83 FS) governs.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Florida § 509.032 partially preempts STR regulation; vacation rentals must register with FDBPR. Local rules on noise, parking, and density may still apply. HOA covenants frequently restrict STR independently.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental to non-resident requires home occupation permit or rezoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation by owner is permitted with restrictions on signage, customer traffic, and outside employees.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio / workshop is a permitted accessory use in residential zones.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture is permitted in residential zones; livestock is district-dependent.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted; § 193.703 FS granny-flat assessment reduction available for qualifying senior-relative additions.
Incentives
Pre-approved plans Pre-approved plans
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Miami-Dade WASD · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Florida Power & Light (FPL) · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Florida City Gas / TECO Peoples Gas · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 8mo · typical 12mo · worst 18mo
Modular pathway inspectors are experienced with modular
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Florida Chapter 720 FS does not preempt HOA ADU bans; covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- flood-zone
Mostly FEMA X with AE pockets; HVHZ NOA products required. - other
Miami-Dade County HVHZ (high-velocity hurricane zone): design wind speed 175 mph; NOA / Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance product approvals required for windows, doors, roofing, soffits. - historic-district
Coral Way / Sunset Drive historic-character streetscapes trigger neighborhood design-overlay review for some parcels.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: South Miami Code of Ordinances — Accessory Use / Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2015-01-01, last amended 2023-01-01
- 2007-07-01 — Florida Statutes § 163.31771 enacted (state-statute)
Enabling statute authorizing local governments to adopt ADU ordinances on parcels zoned for single-family residential use.
Effect: Set the permissive Florida ADU framework still in force in 2026. - 2023-03-29 — Live Local Act (SB 102) signed (state-statute)
Affordability framework with by-right multifamily preemption on commercial / industrial / mixed-use parcels for projects with at least 40% affordable units.
Effect: Indirect ADU effect: shifts secondary-unit pressure toward larger preempted multifamily on non-residential parcels; does not directly compel ADU approvals in single-family zones.
Miami-Dade County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Miami-Dade County operates Florida's most mature and heavily-publicized ADU program, documented at the county's dedicated ADU portal (miamidade.gov/global/economy/building/accessory-dwelling-unit-adu.page). Miami-Dade is Florida's most-populous county and operates a two-tier zoning structure: unincorporated Miami-Dade (the Unincorporated Municipal Service Area, UMSA) is governed by the Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 33 (Zoning), while incorporated municipalities (34 cities including City of Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Homestead, Hialeah, Kendall is unincorporated, Aventura, Doral, North Miami, Miami Gardens, Miramar is in Broward, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, etc.) each maintain their own zoning codes. Miami-Dade's county-level ADU ordinance is explicitly designed to address the region's acute housing affordability crisis and is cited by Florida housing-policy researchers as the de facto state benchmark. § 163.31771 FS remains the enabling framework but Miami-Dade's ADU adoption is among the most permissive locally-adopted schemes in Florida.
- Miami-Dade County Dedicated ADU Program Page
- Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 33 — Zoning (UMSA)
- Florida Statutes § 163.31771 — Accessory Dwelling Units
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 — Miami-Dade's existing framework would in most respects already exceed the proposed state floor, so enactment would have minor net impact on Miami-Dade UMSA parcels but would materially affect the more-restrictive incorporated cities.
County regulatory overlays
Miami-Dade County administers flood, coastal, HVHZ, Urban Development Boundary (UDB), Everglades-protection, and airport/port overlays. Coastal parcels face extensive AE/VE flood mapping and CCCL exposure; the UDB restricts development west of a designated boundary to protect Everglades water supply; Everglades-restoration overlays affect southwest Miami-Dade; Miami International Airport and PortMiami produce approach and noise overlays.
- FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — AE and VE zones are extensive along Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic, and inland along drainage canals. Miami-Dade's flat, low-elevation terrain produces AE zones well inland. ADUs in SFHA require elevation, flood vents, and flood-resistant materials; VE zones require pile-foundation or breakaway-wall construction.
- High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) — Miami-Dade and Broward are the two HVHZ counties. Construction must meet HVHZ wind-load, impact-glazing, roof-covering, and anchor standards. This is the single largest cost differentiator for ADU construction in Miami-Dade relative to most of Florida.
- Urban Development Boundary (UDB) / Urban Expansion Area (UEA) — The UDB separates urbanized Miami-Dade from the Everglades Agricultural Area and the Water Conservation Areas to the west. Development — including ADUs — is generally prohibited west of the UDB without a CDMP amendment. This constrains ADU development on west-county parcels.
- Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) — Atlantic-front parcels seaward of the CCCL require state DEP permit. Miami-Dade's unincorporated Atlantic frontage is minimal (most coastline is incorporated); affects few UMSA parcels but many Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, Key Biscayne parcels.
- Everglades Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) Overlays — Southwest Miami-Dade parcels adjacent to Everglades National Park and within CERP project footprints face enhanced development review.
- Miami International Airport (MIA) & Kendall-Tamiami Executive (TMB) Approach Zones — Parcels under MIA and TMB approach/transitional surfaces face height restrictions and, in some cases, noise-attenuation construction requirements.
- PortMiami & Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve Overlays — Parcels on Biscayne Bay face enhanced setback, water-quality, and mangrove-protection review. An ADU on a bay-adjacent parcel adds environmental-review complexity.
- Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) — Urbanized Miami-Dade has limited WUI exposure. Southwest UMSA parcels abutting the Everglades face moderate exposure.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Permits for ADUs on unincorporated Miami-Dade (UMSA) parcels are issued by the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER), which combines Building and Zoning functions. Miami-Dade UMSA is large and includes major population centers such as Kendall, West Kendall, The Hammocks, Country Walk, Westchester, Richmond Heights, Pinewood, West Little River, and Goulds. Incorporated cities (34 of them) each handle their own permits. The county's ADU portal provides a dedicated application track that is materially faster than a generic addition permit.
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
- 33143
Post Office
- 5927 SW 70th St, 33143