Lawton, OK Accessory Structures: ADU Rules (2026)

Section 18-5-4-531 lists 'a single-family dwelling and a garage apartment' as a permitted use in the R-2 Two-Family Dwelling District, alongside a true two-family dwelling and any use already allowed in the more restrictive R-1 district. The code's definitions section, Section 18-1-1-106, defines a garage apartment as 'a dwelling unit for one (1) family erected above a private garage,' distinguishing it from an ordinary accessory building that cannot be occupied as housing. That distinction matters for lot area: Section 18-5-4-537(C) requires that a garage apartment located on the same lot with a single-family dwelling have the same area requirements as a two-family dwelling, which the same subsection sets at 7,000 square feet where sanitary sewer service is available, a full 1,000 square feet more than the 6,000-square-foot minimum for a plain single-family lot.

In any other configuration, the subsection instead applies the smaller single-family lot area figure. The garage apartment shares the R-2 district's other numeric standards too: the same 25-foot front yard, 5-foot interior side yard, and 45 percent lot coverage cap under Sections 18-5-4-533, 18-5-4-534, and 18-5-4-538 apply whether the second unit is a garage apartment or a full duplex. Lawton's R-1 Single-Family Dwelling District permits no equivalent; its accessory-building use in Section 18-5-3-519 stops at a private garage or similar structure, without the R-2 language authorizing a livable unit above it.