ADU Pass
Clearwater
Pinellas County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 10 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Florida partially preempts local ADU restrictions; cities retain authority over design and setbacks. Clearwater permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $2,400 | $35,250 | $37,650 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,400 | $141,000 | $143,400 |
| midpoint | 575 | $2,400 | $135,125 | $137,525 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $2,400 | $235,000 | $237,400 |
Fee breakdown
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. Clearwater 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: Clearwater Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Clearwater Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Clearwater Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Clearwater Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 16mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Florida has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- flood-zone
Clearwater has FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas; elevation certificates and flood-resistant construction required for SFHA parcels. - historic-district
Clearwater 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
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Clearwater Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Clearwater ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Florida accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Pinellas County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Pinellas County regulates accessory dwelling units on parcels in unincorporated Pinellas through the Pinellas County Land Development Code (LDC), administered by Pinellas County Development Review Services. Pinellas is Florida's densest county — approximately 3,400 persons per square mile — and unincorporated pockets are small, irregularly shaped, and often surrounded by incorporated city limits (St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs, and 18 other municipalities). § 163.31771 FS is permissive only; Pinellas's ADU framework arises entirely from local zoning and is meaningful chiefly for the narrow slice of unincorporated parcels. St. Petersburg runs its own ADU ordinance (city-level) that is among the most active in Florida.
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; if enacted, by-right ADUs in single-family zones would be required statewide with a December 1, 2026 local compliance deadline. Until then, Pinellas retains full discretion.
County regulatory overlays
Pinellas County administers coastal, flood, historic, and airport overlays that cut across incorporated and unincorporated jurisdictions. The county's peninsular geography and barrier-island exposure make coastal construction and flood-hazard overlays especially consequential for ADUs — the majority of Pinellas parcels west of US 19 carry AE or VE flood-zone designations.
- FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — Pinellas is heavily flood-mapped. VE (velocity / wave) zones occupy the immediate shoreline of the Gulf barrier islands; AE zones extend inland across most of the western half of the county. ADUs in VE zones require pile-foundation or breakaway-wall construction with finished floor above BFE; AE-zone ADUs require elevation, flood vents, and flood-resistant materials. This is often the largest single cost driver for a coastal-Pinellas ADU project.
- Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) — The Florida DEP maintains a CCCL seaward of which new construction requires a state CCCL permit in addition to local permits. Portions of Pinellas's Gulf-front parcels (mostly in incorporated beach municipalities) are seaward of the CCCL; an ADU on such a parcel adds a state permit step with engineered-foundation review.
- St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport Noise & Approach Overlay — Parcels under the approach/departure surfaces of PIE face height restrictions and, in some cases, noise-attenuation construction requirements. A two-story ADU may be affected where a one-story primary dwelling is not.
- Historic Districts & Individually-Listed Historic Resources — Several Pinellas municipalities operate historic preservation boards with design-review authority over exterior alterations and new construction in mapped historic districts. A detached ADU in a historic district typically requires Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) review in addition to the standard building permit; this is a city-level process but is noted here because it cuts across the municipal boundary pattern.
- Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) — Practical WUI exposure in densely urbanized Pinellas is limited; the provision is noted for completeness. Pinellas's larger insurance-underwriting pressure is hurricane-wind and storm-surge, not wildfire.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Permits for ADUs on parcels in unincorporated Pinellas County are issued by Pinellas County Development Review Services. Because unincorporated territory is fragmented and often adjoins city limits, pre-application confirmation of jurisdiction (city vs. county) is the critical first step — a parcel a block from an incorporated boundary is commonly misclassified by applicants. Incorporated cities inside Pinellas (St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Seminole, Gulfport, Madeira Beach, Treasure Island, Redington Beach, Redington Shores, North Redington Beach, Indian Shores, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Bluffs, Belleair Shore, Kenneth City, South Pasadena, St. Pete Beach) handle their own ADU permits.
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
- 33755
- 33756
- 33759
- 33760
- 33761
- 33762
- 33763
- 33764
- 33765
- 33767
Post Office
- 100 S Belcher Rd, 33765
- 1851 N Hercules Ave, 33765
- 4600 140th Ave N Ste 100, 33762
- 650 Cleveland St, 33755