ADU Pass
Perry
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Perry, Taylor County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 2 ZIP codes.
Map
Taylor County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Taylor County is a rural south-panhandle / Big Bend Florida county (population ~21,000, Perry is the county seat) with a timber-and-pulp industrial base (Foley Cellulose / Georgia-Pacific Foley Mill is a major employer) and a Gulf coast centered on the small fishing community of Keaton Beach. Non-charter commission government. The Taylor County Land Development Regulations (LDRs), administered by the Planning & Zoning Department under the Board of County Commissioners, govern unincorporated land use. The LDRs do NOT contain a standalone ADU ordinance; accessory dwellings appear via A-1 Agricultural second-dwelling provisions (generally allowed on parcels >=5 acres), Rural Residential (RR) guest-house allowances, and coastal (CL) overlay restrictions limiting density along Keaton Beach and the Steinhatchee River corridor. The county has one incorporated municipality (Perry, population ~6,700). Hurricane Idalia (2023) made landfall very near Taylor County and damaged many coastal and inland structures, adding rebuild activity to the department's workload. No standalone ADU rulemaking is pending as of 2026-04-20.
County regulatory overlays
Taylor County overlays: (1) FEMA SFHAs along Gulf coastline (Keaton Beach, Dekle Beach, Steinhatchee — extensive Zone VE and AE), Aucilla River, and Fenholloway River (industrial-impacted river corridor); (2) FDEP CCCL along Gulf coastline; (3) SRWMD jurisdiction including Floridan Aquifer spring protection; (4) karst / sinkhole terrain in northern Taylor (Wacissa / Aucilla River basin); (5) Florida Building Code 140 mph design-wind-speed non-HVHZ region, upgraded post-Idalia for coastal parcels; (6) Hurricane Idalia reconstruction overlay; (7) Fenholloway River industrial corridor — historically impacted by Foley Cellulose pulp mill discharges, ongoing FDEP cleanup; not directly restrictive to ADU siting but relevant environmental context.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Most of Taylor County's ~1,040 sq mi area is unincorporated — timberland, rural residential, and coastal communities. ADU-adjacent construction is permitted by the Taylor County Building Department at the county courthouse in Perry. Taylor uses the Florida Building Code as adopted. Paper/email intake; no full ePermits portal. Typical single-family permit review 3-6 weeks. Hurricane Idalia (August 2023) rebuild permits have backed up the department in 2023-2025.
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
- 32347
- 32348
Post Office
- 1600 S Jefferson St, 32348