Kissimmee

Osceola County portion

ADU Pass helps homeowners in Kissimmee, Osceola County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 6 ZIP codes.

6 ZIP codes

ADU details

ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions

Statewith-restrictions (Florida accessory-dwelling framework) — None currently. § 163.31771 is permissive; local jurisdictions retain full authority. If SB 48 / HB 313 passes in 2026, preemption scope becomes all single-family zoning statewide with the three prohibitions above.
Countyallowed (Osceola County unincorporated zoning) — Osceola County permits ADUs in unincorporated areas under state-law-aligned standards. Within Kissimmee city limits the city ordinance plus state law govern.
Cityallowed (City of Kissimmee Municipal / Zoning Code — Accessory Dwelling Units) — City of Kissimmee permits ADUs under the local ordinance aligned with Florida statewide framework where applicable.

Florida partially preempts local ADU restrictions; cities retain authority over design and setbacks. Kissimmee permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.

Cost scenarios

ScenarioSq ft PermitBuildTotal
minimum 150 $2,400 $40,050 $42,450
600 600 $2,400 $160,200 $162,600
midpoint 575 $2,400 $153,525 $155,925
maximum 1,000 $2,400 $267,000 $269,400
Fee breakdown
Plan review$720
Building permit$1,320
Impact fees$360
Total$2,400

Viability (permitted uses)

  • Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU generally permitted; landlord-tenant law and any city rental-registration ordinance apply.
  • Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR rules vary by city. Kissimmee regulates STRs separately from ADU permitting; check local STR ordinance and HOA covenants.
  • Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or rezoning.
  • Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with restrictions on signage and customer traffic.
  • Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
  • Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture permitted in residential zones; livestock varies by district.
  • Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted in single-family zones.

Utilities

  • Water: Kissimmee Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
  • Sewer: Kissimmee Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
  • Electric: Kissimmee Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
  • Gas: Kissimmee Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500

Property values & taxes

Median value$300,900
Median tax$3,403/yr
Effective rate1.3%

Construction timeline

Detached build22 weeks
Conversion12 weeks
Contractor lead4 months

Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 16mo

Financing

Insurance impact

Annual premium delta$720
Landlord policyrecommended
Umbrella threshold$1M umbrella when renting

HOA prevalence & preemption

State HOA preemptionno

Florida has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.

Regulatory overlays (3)

  • flood-zone
    Kissimmee has FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas; elevation certificates and flood-resistant construction required for SFHA parcels.
  • historic-district
    Kissimmee historic districts trigger Architectural Review Board / Historic Preservation Commission review for ADUs in historic boundaries.
  • airport-noise-zone
    Airport noise contours affect some parcels and may require sound-attenuation construction.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)

Climate & energy code

IECC climate zone2A
Heating degree days1,600
Cooling degree days2,700
Design low / high30°F / 93°F
Wind design speed140 mph
Seismic design cat.A
Annual rainfall67"
Wildfire exposurelow
Energy codeIECC
Version / adopted2020 / 2024

Building code

Base codeIRC
Version year2,020
Adopted2024
Fire sprinklernone
Egress window5.7 sqft min
Min ceiling7 ft
Attic R-valueR-38 min
Wall R-valueR-13 min

Amendments:

  • Amendment
  • Amendment
Osceola County — county ADU rules and overlays

County ADU ordinance

Osceola County regulates accessory dwelling units on parcels in the unincorporated county through the Osceola County Land Development Code (LDC), which addresses 'Accessory Dwelling Units,' 'guest houses,' and 'caretaker residences.' Osceola is an Orlando-adjacent central-Florida county covering 1,506 square miles (second-largest Florida county by land area), experiencing rapid suburban growth driven by Disney-corridor exurbanization, the sprawling Poinciana unincorporated community, and the NeoCity / Lake Nona-adjacent tech-corridor build-out. Florida has no mandatory statewide ADU preemption — § 163.31771 Fla. Stat. is permissive only. As of 2026-04-20, Osceola County permits one ADU per single-family parcel in most residential zoning districts (R-1, R-2, R-3, PD) subject to size caps (typically 800 sqft or 50% of primary, whichever is less; larger allowances on AC Agricultural / Conservation and AR Agricultural Residential parcels where farm-worker housing is a permitted accessory use), setback conformance, height limits, and utility-sharing requirements. Internal, attached, and detached ADUs are permitted. Osceola County historically has been cattle ranching / citrus / tourism-services country; the western county is dominated by the tourism corridor (Celebration, Kissimmee-Vineland tourist-commercial, ChampionsGate area, Disney-adjacent vacation-rental inventory), while the central and eastern county remain rural ranchland stretching to the Brevard County line and the Kissimmee-to-Lake-Okeechobee wetland system. Pending 2026 state legislation (SB 48 / HB 313) would preempt sub-1,000-sqft caps — Osceola's 800-sqft cap requires upward adjustment.

State-floor overlay: Florida has no mandatory statewide ADU preemption. § 163.31771 Fla. Stat. is permissive only. Pending 2026-session SB 48 / HB 313 would preempt sub-1,000-sqft caps and single-family-zone bans effective December 1, 2026 if enacted. Osceola's 800-sqft cap requires upward adjustment. Live Local Act applies to commercial / industrial / mixed-use; Osceola has been an active Live Local Act implementer in the US-192 tourist-commercial corridor. Florida HOA, condominium, and cooperative statutes (Ch. 720, 718, 719) do NOT preempt association-level ADU restrictions — Osceola has enormous HOA / condominium jurisdiction in the vacation-rental corridor (Celebration, ChampionsGate, Formosa Gardens, Emerald Island, Solterra, Windsor Hills, and dozens of others) where covenants commonly bar long-term ADUs while encouraging short-term vacation-rental use.

County regulatory overlays

Osceola County administers or co-administers overlays materially affecting ADU siting: (1) FEMA SFHA along the Kissimmee River chain (Lake Toho, East Lake Toho, Lake Cypress, Lake Hatchineha, Lake Kissimmee, Lake Marian), Reedy Creek / Shingle Creek headwaters, St. Cloud Canal, and hundreds of smaller lakes and wetlands; Osceola is CRS Class 6; (2) Florida Building Code Wind Borne Debris Region at 140 mph ultimate (inland); (3) Northern Everglades watershed — the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades (KOE) system originates in Osceola; South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is the water management district with extensive consumptive-use and stormwater oversight; (4) Kissimmee River Restoration corridor — a long-term federal-state restoration project that governs riverine buffer protections; (5) Disney-adjacent Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD, formerly Reedy Creek) sliver crossing the Osceola-Orange border includes a tiny Osceola segment; (6) Lake Toho / Kissimmee Chain Recreational overlay affecting lakefront construction; (7) Orlando International Airport (MCO) Airport Influence Area extends into northwest Osceola; Kissimmee Gateway Airport AIA; (8) Florida Forest Service Firewise zones in eastern Osceola ranchland; (9) Osceola National Forest is in Baker / Columbia counties (NOT Osceola County — confusing naming).

County permitting (unincorporated parcels)

Osceola County Community Development Department (Building Division + Planning Division) is the combined planning / zoning / building / floodplain permit authority for parcels in the unincorporated county. Unincorporated Osceola covers approximately 1,390 square miles (about 92% of the county's 1,506 sqmi total). Incorporated municipalities are Kissimmee (county seat), St. Cloud, and the census-designated Celebration (incorporated as a town partially under Disney's Reedy Creek / now Central Florida Tourism Oversight District jurisdiction). Principal unincorporated communities include Poinciana (straddles Polk / Osceola line; approximately 70,000 on the Osceola side), Buenaventura Lakes, Campbell, Intercession City, Kenansville (rural east), Harmony (master-planned community), Deer Run, and extensive east-county ranchland. Osceola is a CRS Class 6 community for NFIP. Osceola is inland at 140-mph-ultimate wind-load design. Community Development operates a one-stop permit intake.

DepartmentOsceola County Community Development Department
Address1 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee, FL 34741
Phone407-742-0200
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

  • 34741
  • 34743
  • 34744
  • 34746
  • 34747
  • 34758

Post Office

  • 1415 W Oak St, 34741
  • 2600 Michigan Ave, 34744
  • 3050 Polynesian Isle Blvd, 34746
  • 4774 San Remo Rd, 34758
  • 601 Market St, 34747

Locale Names