Hendersonville, TN Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

C names the exact relationships the ordinance permits: the people residing in the principal dwelling, the accessory apartment, and the detached accessory dwelling must be parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, children, step-children, in-laws, nieces, or nephews of one another, or a domestic employee of the household and that employee's family. Anyone outside that list, a paying tenant found on a rental site, a traveler booking a short stay, or an unrelated roommate, cannot legally occupy the unit. B layers on an owner-occupancy floor: at least one owner of the property must reside in either the principal dwelling or the accessory unit, and "reside" is defined in the ordinance as the owner's primary residence for at least 75 percent of the year.

Together the two conditions rule out both a long-term rental to strangers and a short-term rental listing, since neither an unrelated tenant nor an absentee owner can satisfy the occupancy test. G, which the owner must file with the Sumner County Registrar's office; the covenant runs with the land and binds every future owner to the same family-occupancy and residency terms, so a buyer cannot simply rent the unit out after closing. H allows the City to periodically inspect a detached accessory dwelling and its principal dwelling to confirm continuing compliance with these occupancy terms.