Gulfport, MS Accessory Structures: ADU Rules (2026)

Appendix A's definitions section draws the line before the supplementary regulations even get to it: an "accessory building or use" is defined as any building secondary or coincidental to the main building on the lot, explicitly excluding "a secondary living building or use" from that definition. Section IV(A)(2) then makes the prohibition operational. Subsection (a) keeps accessory buildings out of the space between the front building line and the front property line, except for a canopy tied to a gas station use. " That single sentence forecloses the most common ADU forms, a rented garage apartment, a backyard cottage let out separately, or a converted shed used to run a business, regardless of what the underlying district's density or lot size would otherwise support.

The rule sits alongside other accessory-building limits in the same section: no more than two detached accessory buildings per lot with a single- or multi-family structure, a cap of one above-ground pool in addition to one accessory building, and a requirement that an accessory building be removed within six months if the primary building on the lot is torn down and no new building permit application is pending. Because Gulfport's zoning enabling authority runs through Mississippi Code Section 17-1-1, and the city chose to write this prohibition directly into its supplementary use regulations rather than leave it silent, the bar applies uniformly across every conventional zoning district, not just the single-family ones.