ADU Pass
Mid City Dayton
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Mid City Dayton — a USPS locale inside Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio — navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This locale covers 1 ZIP code.
Dayton — city ADU rules and incentives
ADU legality: with-restrictions
Practical 2026 path: Dayton Zoning Administration intake at 371 W. Second Street, BZA Conditional Use hearing if not yet converted to administrative permit, followed by a building permit through Dayton Building Services. Wright-Patterson AICUZ overlay is the most common location-specific blocker on east-side parcels.
City cost envelope
$165,800 all-in for a 625 sqft ADU (permit + build). Midpoint scenario.
Permit fee bundle: $4,125 (2026-04).
City viability (selected uses)
City incentives
- Dayton CityWide Development - Affordable Housing programs — varies by program
- Ohio Homestead Exemption — Eligible homeowners 65+ or permanently disabled receive a property-tax reduction on the principal dwelling.
Montgomery County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Montgomery County, OH (536,000 residents including Dayton - distinct from Montgomery County, MD and Montgomery County, PA) does not exercise broad zoning authority over its incorporated municipalities. Each (Dayton, Kettering, Huber Heights, Trotwood, Riverside, Centerville, Miamisburg) sets its own ADU rules under Ohio Revised Code municipal authority.
State-floor overlay: No OH statewide ADU preemption.
County regulatory overlays
Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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)
Montgomery 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 Code
- 45402
Post Office
- 36 N Ludlow St, 45402