ADU Pass
Akron
Summit County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Akron, Summit County, Ohio navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 14 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: unclear
Ohio leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. Akron permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,800 | $33,000 | $34,800 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,800 | $132,000 | $133,800 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,800 | $115,500 | $117,300 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,800 | $198,000 | $199,800 |
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. Akron 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: Akron Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Akron Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Akron Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Akron 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 Akron Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Akron 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.
Summit County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Summit County, OH (536,000 residents including Akron) is the second Ohio charter county. Like Cuyahoga, it does not exercise broad zoning authority over its 31 municipalities. Each (Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Hudson, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, Norton, Barberton) sets its own ADU rules.
State-floor overlay: No OH statewide ADU preemption.
County regulatory overlays
Summit 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 Summit 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)
Summit 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
- 44301
- 44302
- 44303
- 44304
- 44305
- 44306
- 44307
- 44308
- 44310
- 44311
- 44312
- 44314
- 44319
- 44320
Post Office
- 1237 S Arlington St, 44306
- 2001 Brown St, 44319
- 2390 Wedgewood Dr, 44312
- 2394 East Ave, 44314
- 574 E Cuyahoga Falls Ave, 44310
- 634 W Exchange St, 44302
- 675 Wolf Ledges Pkwy Rm 104, 44309