Bartow County, GA Accessory Structures: ADU Rules (2026)

5 of the Zoning Ordinance lets a landowner in unincorporated Bartow County add one accessory dwelling unit, such as a guest house, pool house or garage apartment, to a lot in a residential district or on A-1 zoned property. A single-family principal dwelling has to already stand on the lot, or at minimum hold an issued building permit that has passed its rough-in/framing inspection, before the accessory unit can go forward. Size is capped by the principal home's footprint and by the lot. On a lot under one acre, the heated floor area of the accessory dwelling cannot exceed 50 percent of the principal building's heated floor area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller.

On a lot between one and ten acres, the cap rises to 75 percent of the principal building's heated floor area or 1,500 square feet, whichever is smaller. The structure has to sit within the same setbacks that apply to any accessory building and cannot be located closer to the street than the principal dwelling. Bartow County ties the unit to the county's construction standards: an accessory dwelling unit has to comply with the standard building codes set out in Section 18-31 of the Bartow County Building Code.

Recreational vehicles, manufactured homes, trailers, tiny houses, storage buildings, shipping containers and other non-residential structures are disqualified outright and cannot be counted or converted into an accessory dwelling unit under this section.