ADU Pass
Hilliard
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Hilliard, Nassau 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) wind-design (per ASCE 7-22) governs structural review.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,700 | $39,200 | $40,900 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,700 | $117,600 | $119,300 |
| midpoint | 550 | $1,700 | $107,800 | $109,500 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,700 | $176,400 | $178,100 |
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
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Local municipal / utility district · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: FDOH septic where central sewer unavailable; municipal where served · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Florida Power & Light or local cooperative · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: LP / propane (most parcels) · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 16mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional 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 (1)
- flood-zone
FEMA X with AE along streams; inland location.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Hilliard 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.
Nassau County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Nassau County (county seat Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island; northernmost Atlantic-facing Florida county, immediately north of Jacksonville) regulates accessory dwelling units on unincorporated parcels through the Nassau County Land Development Code. Nassau includes Amelia Island (Fernandina Beach and unincorporated Amelia Island South), the rapidly growing Yulee / Wildlight / Nassau Crossing suburban corridor along Interstate 95, and rural western county. Population approximately 95,000 and growing. Florida has no statewide ADU preemption; § 163.31771 FS is permissive only. Pending SB 48 / HB 313 (2026 session) would establish a statewide ADU floor with a December 1, 2026 conformance deadline if enacted. This is Nassau County Florida, NOT Nassau County New York — data consumers should confirm stateSlug === 'florida'.
State-floor overlay: Florida has no statewide ADU preemption as of April 2026. § 163.31771 FS is permissive only. Pending 2026 bills (SB 48 / HB 313) would impose a statewide floor; Nassau's ordinance would need audit against the final statutory text if enacted (December 1, 2026 deadline in current drafts).
County regulatory overlays
Nassau County administers coastal, floodplain, wetland, and master-planned community overlays. Amelia Island's Atlantic-facing coast exposes barrier-island parcels to high-risk FEMA flood zones and the CCCL program. Tidal-creek and salt-marsh wetlands along the Intracoastal Waterway, Nassau Sound, and St. Marys River face St. Johns River Water Management District jurisdiction. Several large master-planned communities (Wildlight, Amelia Concourse, Amelia National) impose private architectural review atop the county code.
- FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — Coastal A, VE, AE zones — Nassau participates in NFIP. Amelia Island ocean-facing parcels face Zone VE or Coastal A designations; Intracoastal and tidal-creek parcels face Zone AE. ADU construction in Zone VE requires pile/column foundations, breakaway walls, and flow-through venting.
- Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) — Parcels seaward of the CCCL on Amelia Island require FDEP CCCL permits in addition to county permits. Amelia Island's Atlantic coast has mixed erosion and accretion patterns; CCCL-imposed foundation setbacks vary by segment.
- St. Johns River Water Management District Environmental Resource Permits — Nassau sits within SJRWMD jurisdiction. ADU site work affecting tidal wetlands, salt marsh, or altering stormwater requires an ERP. Coastal and marsh-adjacent parcels commonly require wetland delineation.
- Hurricane Wind Zone — approximately 130-140 mph ultimate design wind speed — Nassau's Atlantic coast sits in approximately the 140 mph ASCE 7-22 ultimate design wind-speed zone; inland closer to 130 mph. Hurricane Matthew (2016), Irma (2017), Dorian (2019), and Ian (2022) have all produced impact in Nassau.
- Amelia Island Historic District (Fernandina Beach) — The Fernandina Beach Historic District — a National Register district covering downtown Fernandina — imposes architectural and materials-compatibility review on new construction and accessory structures. This is a city-level overlay within Fernandina Beach; unincorporated Amelia Island South does not have a county-level historic overlay.
- Master-planned community private architectural review (Wildlight, Amelia Concourse, Amelia National) — Major master-planned communities in unincorporated Nassau (Wildlight in Yulee, Amelia Concourse, Amelia National) impose private architectural-review-committee approvals atop the county code. An ADU in these communities requires both county permit and ARC approval, and ARC rules may be more restrictive than the county ordinance.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Permits for ADUs on parcels in unincorporated Nassau County are issued by the Nassau County Planning & Economic Opportunity Department and the Building Department. Nassau has two incorporated municipalities: Fernandina Beach (on the north end of Amelia Island) and Callahan (a small inland town). Most of Amelia Island south of Fernandina Beach, plus the entire Yulee / Wildlight / Nassau Crossing suburban growth corridor and rural western county, is unincorporated.
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
- 32046
Post Office
- 551835 US Highway 1, 32046