Flint, MI Accessory Structures: ADU Rules (2026)

Michigan, unlike California (Gov. Code 65852.2), Oregon (ORS 197.312), or Washington (RCW 36.70A.681), has not enacted a statewide ADU mandate. The legal framework for zoning in Michigan flows from the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (PA 110 of 2006, codified at MCL 125.3201 et seq.), which consolidated the prior city, township, and county zoning acts and authorizes home-rule cities to adopt and amend zoning ordinances. Flint operates under a 2018 hybrid form-based code at Chapter 50 of the Flint City Code, organized around transects and character districts rather than purely use-based Euclidean zoning, in implementation of the 2013 Imagine Flint Master Plan. Whether an ADU is permitted as an accessory use, by right, or as a special land use depends on the underlying transect or district and the dimensional standards in the form-based regulating plan. Owner-occupancy requirements, minimum/maximum unit size, separate-entrance restrictions, and short-term-rental prohibitions are set by Chapter 50 rather than by state law. Variances and special land use approvals are heard by the Flint Zoning Board of Appeals under MCL 125.3603 and by the Planning Commission under MCL 125.3501-3502. Construction must additionally comply with the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act (PA 230 of 1972, MCL 125.1501 et seq.), which adopts the Michigan Residential Code (based on the IRC) and Michigan Building Code (based on the IBC) with state amendments. Applicants in Flint's many older neighborhoods with narrow lots should request a written zoning determination before investing in design work because legacy nonconforming lot dimensions frequently require variances.