How do you check your town's ADU rules?

Which government makes the rules for your lot?

Start here, because every other answer depends on it. New York has no statewide law that makes towns allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs), so each city, town and village writes its own zoning, the local law that says what can be built where (see our New York page).

In New York, a town’s zoning covers only the parts of the town outside any village or city (NY Town Law §261). If your home sits inside a village, the village code applies, not the town’s. A city is its own government with its own code.

A mailing address or ZIP code won’t tell you which one you’re in. Your property tax bill, your county’s parcel map, or a call to the town clerk will.

Places that share a name can have very different rules:

Watch for same-name places in other parts of the state, too. The City of Rochester is in Monroe County. The Town of Rochester is a different government in Ulster County (Town of Rochester). A website that mixes them up is giving you someone else’s rules.

In New York: Local control reaches even the state’s ADU tax break. Since 2024, a city, town, village, county or school district may choose to exempt some of the value an ADU adds from property tax for up to ten years, but only where that government has adopted it (S8306-C, Part GG). Ask your assessor whether it applies to you. Our New York page covers the state picture.

What zoning district is your lot in?

Zoning splits a municipality into districts. Each one sets which uses are allowed there, how big buildings can be and how close to the lot lines they can go. A setback is the minimum distance a building must sit from a property line. Your district is on the zoning map, or the clerk can look it up by address or tax map number.

The district matters because many codes allow ADUs only in some districts. The Town of East Bloomfield allows its family cottages only in the AR-2 and RR-1 districts (code). The Village of Scottsville’s use table allows an ADU by special permit in three residential districts and rules it out in its RA and RM districts (use table).

Check for an overlay district too. That is an extra layer of rules on top of the base district, often for lakefronts, historic areas, steep slopes or flood areas. In the Town of Canandaigua’s Scenic Viewshed Overlay, for example, an accessory apartment is allowed only where public sewer and water exist (code).

How do you read the code?

Many New York towns and villages publish their code on ecode360, a site run by General Code. Others post a PDF on their own website. Either way, these steps help.

1. Check how current it is. On ecode360, the version information button shows the date the online text runs through. When we looked in October 2026, the Village of Pittsford’s code included laws through February 24, 2026 (Village of Pittsford Code). Anything adopted after that date may be missing.
2. Look at the “Laws” or “New Laws” tab. Recent laws can sit there before they are folded into the main text. Ask the clerk whether a change is pending, too.
3. Search for more than “ADU.” Try accessory dwelling, accessory apartment, in-law, guest house, carriage house, second dwelling, accessory suite and two-family.
4. Read the definitions. A rule often turns on one defined word. The Village of Bloomfield’s “accessory apartment unit,” for example, shares the main home’s kitchen, so it is not a fully separate home (definition).
5. Find your district’s list or table of uses. Uses usually fall into three groups: permitted, allowed by special use permit, and not listed.
6. Find the extra ADU rules. Look for a “supplemental” or “additional use” regulations article. That is where size caps, bedroom limits, parking and owner occupancy (a rule that the owner must live in the house or the ADU) usually live.
7. Check the size and setback rules for your district, and the rules for accessory buildings if you want a detached unit.
8. Save what you read. Download or print the sections and write the date on them, so you know what you relied on.

What does each answer mean?

Some towns with no ADU rule do allow a two-family house in certain districts. The Town of Victor, for example, allows duplexes in its R-2 district (code). That is a different project from a backyard ADU, but it is worth asking about.

What should you ask the code office?

Call or visit the code enforcement officer or zoning officer, the local official who reads the zoning code and issues permits. Have your address and tax map number ready. Then ask:

• What zoning district is my lot in, and is there an overlay district?
• Does the code allow an ADU here by permit, by special use permit, or not at all?
• Which section covers ADUs or accessory apartments, and is a change pending?
• Is a detached unit allowed, or only one inside or attached to the house?
• Is there a size limit, bedroom cap, parking rule or design rule?
• Must the owner live on the property? May the unit be rented, and to whom?
• Which approvals will I need, which board hears them, and when does it meet?
• Will my application go to the county planning board?
• Who approves septic or a sewer connection for a second unit?
• Will you put your answer in writing?

How do you get the answer in writing?

A phone answer is a good start, not something to build on. Staff change, memories fade and codes get amended.

• Ask for a written determination. Send a short letter or email with your address, tax map number, zoning district and a plain description of what you want to build. Ask the zoning officer to reply in writing and name the code sections that apply.
• Confirm phone calls by email. A short note that starts “Thanks for talking today. My notes say…” gives the office a chance to correct you and gives you a record.
• Keep the code you relied on, along with the date the online version ran through.
• Know the appeal window. In a New York town, if you disagree with the zoning officer’s decision, the appeal goes to the zoning board of appeals within 60 days after the decision is filed (NY Town Law §267-a).

A written yes on the rules is not approval of your project. You will still need the permits in our step-by-step permit guide, and a board deciding a special use permit makes its own call. Get written confirmation before you sign a nonrefundable contract with any builder, including us.

What this means for you

• Find the right government first. Town, village or city, and the right one of any same-name places. Town zoning stops at the village line (NY Town Law §261).
• Your district matters as much as your town. The same code can allow an ADU in one district and rule it out in the next.
• “Not addressed” is a question, and the answer may be no. Ask the town in writing how it would treat your project, and whether the code allows more than one home or main building on your lot.
• Read the date on the code. Check for new laws and pending changes before you rely on it.
• Get it in writing before you spend real money. That goes for drawings, deposits and contracts.
• Use what we’ve already gathered. Our New York page covers the state rules, and the property checker walks through your lot and tells you what to check next.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your town’s code office and boards have the final say, and a lawyer can help if the answer is unclear or you want to appeal.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your municipality decides what can be built, and a professional should review decisions about money and contracts.