Clayton County, GA Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

Sec. 108 creates the RT Overlay to encourage incremental residential growth within a half-mile of proposed high-capacity transit stations, and RT-5 sets the standards for accessory dwelling units within it. One ADU is permitted per primary dwelling, created either through new construction, converting an existing structure, adding onto the house, or converting a qualifying existing house into an accessory cottage while a new primary home is built on the same site. The unit can be internal to the main house, attached, or fully detached, but combined lot coverage of the primary dwelling and the ADU together cannot exceed 60 percent, and the ADU itself is capped at whichever is smaller: 800 square feet, or three-quarters of the primary dwelling's living area.

No additional off-street parking is required for the ADU. Item 8 is the owner-occupancy rule itself: the lot containing the ADU has to be occupied by the property's owner, though the owner is free to choose which unit to live in, the ADU or the primary house, rather than being locked into the main dwelling. Aesthetic-continuity rules also apply: exterior materials on the ADU must be primarily brick, wood, stucco, or stone, matching the principal dwelling, with textured concrete masonry or fiberboard allowed only as a minority material.