ADU Pass
St. Thomas
No County portion
Also in: St. Thomas Island
ADU Pass helps homeowners in St. Thomas, No County, Virgin Islands navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 4 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: unclear
US Virgin Islands leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. St Thomas permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,800 | $48,000 | $49,800 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,800 | $192,000 | $193,800 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,800 | $168,000 | $169,800 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,800 | $288,000 | $289,800 |
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. St Thomas 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: St Thomas Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: St Thomas Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: St Thomas Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: St Thomas Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 9mo · typical 14mo · worst 22mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
US Virgin Islands has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Regulatory overlays (1)
- seismic-zone
Seismic Design Category D2 per ASCE 7; soft-story and unreinforced-masonry seismic considerations may apply.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of St Thomas Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of St Thomas ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current US Virgin Islands accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
County: no attribution (synthetic bucket)
No county
This city sits in the state's "no county" bucket — its ADU rules derive directly from state law and city ordinance without a county intermediary. No county-level sections apply.
US Virgin Islands state — ADU law and programs
State financing programs
USVI's primary housing finance vehicle is the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA), the territorial housing finance authority operating since June 1984. VIHFA is the lead agency administering CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT funding ($1.86B+ allocated by HUD after the 2017 Hurricane Irma/María disasters); the broader recovery funding totals several billion dollars across multiple HUD allocations. The VIHFA-administered programs that touch ADU-equivalent work include the Homeowner Reconstruction Program for storm-damaged homes (where reconstruction can include accessory or replacement structures within program limits) and various utility-restoration programs (electrical, plumbing). VIHFA is NOT publishing a dedicated consumer ADU loan; ADU-equivalent work flows through the disaster-recovery channel or through conventional bank financing (Banco Popular VI, FirstBank VI). VIHFA also operates first-mortgage and homebuyer-assistance programs.
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
- 00801
- 00803
- 00804
- 00805
Post Office
- 4605 Tutu Park Mall Ste 179, 00802
- 5046 Norre Gade, 00802
- 6500 Veterans Dr, 00802
- 9007 Havensight Shopp Ctr Ste D, 00802
- 9846 Estate Thomas, 00802