ADU Pass
Cassadaga
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Cassadaga, No 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
Cassadaga is a small unincorporated community in southwestern Volusia County, founded in 1894 as the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association. The Spiritualist Camp is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest active religious community of its kind in the South. Camp parcels are largely under ground lease, so ADU economics differ from fee-simple parcels. The surrounding non-camp area is typical Volusia County rural-residential.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $2,200 | $41,000 | $43,200 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,200 | $123,000 | $125,200 |
| midpoint | 500 | $2,200 | $102,500 | $104,700 |
| maximum | 800 | $2,200 | $164,000 | $166,200 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental permitted off-camp; camp parcels subject to SCSCMA lease assignment terms.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Florida § 509.032 partially preempts STR regulation. Cassadaga has notable tourism around the Spiritualist Camp (psychic readings, mediumship workshops). Camp parcels: STR may be restricted by SCSCMA lease terms. Off-camp: Volusia County rules apply.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit; camp parcels may have spiritualist-purpose use covenants.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted; mediumship/healing readings are common camp accessory uses with long historic precedent.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Agricultural accessory uses limited; camp core is residential-historic.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU permitted; § 193.703 FS granny-flat reduction available.
Incentives
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Volusia County Water (limited central service); private well for outlying parcels · 30d connect · $5,500
- Sewer: FDOH septic (most parcels) · 30d connect · $8,000
- Electric: Florida Power & Light (FPL); Duke Energy in pockets · 21d connect · $1,700
- Gas: LP / propane (no natural gas mains) · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 8mo · typical 12mo · worst 17mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
SCSCMA ground-lease covenants effectively function as HOA-equivalent on camp parcels and are private-party enforced. Off-camp parcels are typically HOA-free.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- historic-district
Cassadaga Historic District (NRHP-listed 1991) covers the Spiritualist Camp core; design-review intensity depends on Volusia County local-historic-district designation status and SCSCMA covenants. - flood-zone
Localized FEMA SFHAs along Lake Colby and tributaries; camp uplands are mostly Zone X. - wui-fire-zone
Pine flatwoods adjacency; FFS WUI moderate exposure.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Volusia County Land Development Code; Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association covenants/ground-lease terms (private), adopted 2010-01-01, last amended 2024-01-01
- 1894-12-18 — Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association founded (private-development)
Spiritualist Camp founded by George Colby on land deeded to the SCSCMA.
Effect: Established the Camp's communal ground-lease land tenure that governs most parcels in the historic core. - 1991-01-01 — Cassadaga Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places (historic-listing)
Approximately 55 contributing structures listed; National Register listing does not by itself impose design review.
Effect: Established federal historic recognition; local design-review trigger comes from Volusia County and SCSCMA covenants. - 2007-07-01 — Florida Statutes § 163.31771 enacted (state-statute)
Authorized Florida local governments to adopt ADU ordinances on parcels zoned for single-family residential use.
Effect: Permissive Florida ADU framework; private covenants and historic-district review still govern feasibility on camp parcels.
Known issues (2)
- policy-review — SCSCMA ground-lease covenants on Camp parcels can be stricter than county code and are private-party enforced; ADU feasibility on Camp parcels requires Board approval before any permit application.
- other — Historic-district status of the Camp core limits exterior alterations; ADU design must be compatible with the late-19th-century vernacular.
County: no attribution (synthetic bucket)
No county
This city sits in the state's "no county" bucket — its ADU rules derive directly from state law and city ordinance without a county intermediary. No county-level sections apply.
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
- 32706
Post Office
- 1087 Stevens St, 32706