ADU Pass
Cleveland
Cuyahoga County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 30 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: unclear
Ohio leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. Cleveland permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,800 | $33,750 | $35,550 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,800 | $135,000 | $136,800 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,800 | $118,125 | $119,925 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,800 | $202,500 | $204,300 |
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. Cleveland 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: Cleveland Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Cleveland Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Cleveland Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Cleveland Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 16mo
Financing
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Ohio has no statewide statute that voids HOA bans on ADUs. Common-interest communities in Ohio are governed primarily by the Ohio Planned Community Law (O.R.C. Chapter 5312) for HOAs and by the Ohio Condominium Property Act (O.R.C. Chapter 5311) for condominiums. Restrictive covenants in declarations and bylaws — including those prohibiting accessory structures, secondary kitchens, or rental of any portion of a residence — remain enforceable per their terms.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Cleveland Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Cleveland ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Ohio accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Cuyahoga County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Cuyahoga County, OH (1.24M residents including Cleveland) is one of two Ohio counties (with Summit) operating under a charter form of government. Cuyahoga County does not exercise broad zoning authority over its 59 municipalities; under Ohio Revised Code Title 7 zoning is exercised by cities, villages, and townships. Cleveland operates its own ADU rules through the Cleveland Zoning Code; suburban Cuyahoga municipalities (Lakewood, Parma, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Westlake, Strongsville, Rocky River) each set their own.
State-floor overlay: Ohio has not enacted statewide ADU preemption.
County regulatory overlays
Cuyahoga County administers flood-hazard, and (where mapped) coastal, wildland-fire, historic, and airport overlays that shape ADU project feasibility. The most consistent overlay across the county is FEMA NFIP floodplain regulation; other overlays apply to specific geographies inside the county.
- FEMA NFIP Special Flood Hazard Areas in Cuyahoga County — A new ADU in a mapped SFHA must be elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation; cost impact on the project is often material.
- Historic districts and individually-listed historic resources
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Cuyahoga County issues building permits for parcels in unincorporated territory through its development services / planning department, with separate review tracks for zoning conformance, building-code compliance, on-site sewage where applicable, floodplain compliance, and addressing. Inside incorporated municipalities, city departments handle their own permits; the county's authority is geographically limited to unincorporated territory. An ADU permit application is typically processed as a residential building permit with a zoning verification step against the county's ordinance for the parcel's zoning district.
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
- 44101
- 44102
- 44103
- 44104
- 44105
- 44106
- 44108
- 44109
- 44110
- 44111
- 44112
- 44113
- 44114
- 44115
- 44117
- 44119
- 44120
- 44121
- 44124
- 44125
- 44126
- 44127
- 44128
- 44129
- 44130
- 44134
- 44135
- 44142
- 44143
- 44144
Post Office
- 12401 Rockside Rd, 44125
- 13301 Smith Rd, 44130
- 14039 Puritas Ave, 44135
- 14500 Lorain Ave, 44111
- 1568 S Green Rd, 44121
- 1650 E 55th St, 44103
- 16828 Harvard Ave, 44128
- 1700 Shaw Ave, 44112
- 1950 E 101st St, 44106
- 2201 Broadway Ave, 44101
- 22350 Brookpark Rd, 44126
- 2400 Orange Ave, 44101
- 2855 E 130th St, 44120
- 3675 Warrensville Center Rd, 44120
- 410 Superior Ave, 44114
- 4160 Pearl Rd, 44109
- 454 Richmond Rd, 44143
- 5600 Woodland Ave, 44104
- 5611 State Rd, 44134
- 5725 Portage Ave, 44127
- 5815 Landerbrook Dr, 44124
- 6200 Biddulph Rd, 44144
- 630 E 105th St, 44108
- 6600 Lorain Ave, 44102
- 7801 Day Dr, 44129
- 8745 Broadway Ave, 44105
- 890 E 152nd St, 44110
- 891 E 185th St, 44119
Locale Names
- A Station Cleveland
- B Station Cleveland
- Beachland
- Briggs
- Brooklyn
- Carrier Sections
- Collinwood
- Cranwood
- East Cleveland
- Fairview Park
- Garfield Heights
- Glenville Bratenahl
- Jesse C Owens
- Lyndhurst Mayfield
- Midpark
- Newburg
- Parma
- Pearlbrook
- Public Square
- Puritas Park
- Richmond Heights
- Shaker Finance
- Shaker Heights
- South Euclid
- University Center
- West Park
- Willow