Accessory Structures in Georgia (2026)

Cherokee County's zoning code does not create an accessory dwelling unit category. Zoning Ordinance Section 5.6 instead…

Houston County's Land Development Regulations do not let anyone add a second house or mobile home to a residential lot…

Marietta allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot as a director-approved temporary/conditional use under Section…

Paulding County allows a detached guest house, its version of an accessory dwelling unit, only as a Special Exception…

A second house or mobile home on one Warner Robins residential lot is not a by-right accessory dwelling: it requires a…

Acworth allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot with a single-family detached home, capped at half the principal…

Atlanta allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot in the R-4, R-4A and R-5 districts, capped at two…

Unincorporated Bartow County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in residential districts and A-1, capped at 50…

Accessory dwelling units in Savannah and unincorporated Chatham County are governed by the joint NewZO zoning ordinance…

Clayton County allows one accessory dwelling per lot as a conditional use, either inside the primary home or as a…

An ancillary dwelling, Columbia County's term for a garage apartment or accessory dwelling unit, needs a lot of at…

Columbus, Georgia's Unified Development Ordinance recognizes four accessory dwelling types on a residential lot…

In Coweta County's Village Center district, one accessory dwelling unit is allowed by right on any single-family…

In the City of Decatur, Georgia (DeKalb County), an accessory dwelling unit is a limited use allowed only behind a…

Unincorporated DeKalb allows attached, detached or converted accessory dwelling units by right on lots of at least…

Unincorporated Fayette County allows exactly one guesthouse per lot, capped at 700 square feet of heated and finished…

In unincorporated Floyd County, a guesthouse is the closest thing the Unified Land Development Code has to an accessory…

Forsyth County allows one accessory apartment per lot, attached or detached, under UDC §§ 16-4.1 and 16-4.2, but not…

Unincorporated Fulton County allows one detached accessory dwelling, called a guest house, per single-family lot in…

UDO § 210-140.10 allows one detached accessory dwelling per lot in Gwinnett County's residential districts, capped at…

Hall County allows one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per principal home, capped between 300 and 1,000 square feet and…

Johns Creek allows a detached accessory dwelling unit, called a Guest House, on single-family lots. Zoning Ordinance…

Macon-Bibb County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot as a conditional use under Section 23.01.01 of the…

Unincorporated Rockdale County allows a caretaker or employee accessory dwelling under Sec. 218-13(r) of the Unified…

Roswell, Georgia treats a backyard ADU as a 'carriage house': a conditional or limited use requiring City Council or…

South Fulton permits one detached guest house per single-family lot for relatives, guests, or on-site employees, but…

Walton County allows guest houses by right on agricultural and R-1 lots of 1.2 acres or larger with county water (2.4…

In the TOD Residential Support (RT) Overlay near future transit stations, Clayton County requires the lot holding an…

In unincorporated DeKalb County, the property owner must live in either the main house or the accessory dwelling unit…

In unincorporated Floyd County, an accessory apartment is allowed only where the property's principal home is…

Gwinnett County will not issue a Certificate of Occupancy for an accessory dwelling unit unless the primary…

Macon-Bibb County will not permit an accessory dwelling unit unless the property owner actually lives on site. Section…

Marietta lets homeowners in the R-1 through R-4 single-family districts build one accessory dwelling unit as a…

Roswell's UDC requires the owner of a detached house to personally occupy either the main house or its carriage house…

In unincorporated Bartow County, an accessory dwelling unit such as a guest house, pool house or garage apartment…

Columbus, Georgia's accessory dwelling table bars renting out any of the four accessory dwelling types the UDO allows…

Marietta bars renting out a backyard accessory dwelling unit to anyone. Section 708.01(C)(2)(c) states flatly that no…

Unincorporated Fayette County allows one guesthouse per lot as a residential accessory structure, but county code…

Fulton County's guest house zoning standard bars charging rent: § 19.3.5(B)(1) limits occupancy of an…

South Fulton's Zoning Ordinance Sec. 303.09 allows one guest house per lot, but only for relatives, guests or on-site…

Acworth caps every lot at two accessory structures, each no taller than 20 feet, with a combined footprint no larger…

Backyard sheds and other accessory buildings in Atlanta's R-1 through R-5 districts cap out at 20 feet tall, 25% of the…

In Augusta-Richmond County R-1 zoning, accessory buildings and sheds are capped at one story and 18 feet, banned from…

Unincorporated Carroll County exempts one-story detached tool sheds, storage sheds, and playhouses under 200 square…

In unincorporated Chatham County, a building permit is required for accessory buildings, storage buildings, and tool…

A shed in unincorporated Cherokee County is regulated as an accessory structure under Zoning Ordinance Section 5.6. It…

Clayton County caps residential sheds and mini-barns at no more than three accessory structures per lot, limits their…

In Cobb County's R-80 zoning district, a carport counts as an accessory structure: units under 144 square feet need…

A shed or accessory building of 400 square feet or less needs only a 5-foot setback from any property line under Code…

Columbus, Georgia treats a carport as a detached residential accessory structure, so it must meet the UDO's 5-foot side…

Coweta County lets a shed or other accessory building sit as close as five feet to a rear or side lot line, per Zoning…

Decatur's Unified Development Ordinance caps accessory buildings, including garden sheds, at 1,000 square feet of floor…

In unincorporated DeKalb County, a shed or accessory building maxes out at 900 square feet on lots under an acre, must…

Dunwoody bans accessory buildings and sheds from front yards entirely and requires at least 10 feet of separation from…

A storage building is a permitted residential accessory structure in unincorporated Fayette County, but it counts…

A shed or tool room in unincorporated Floyd County is a customary accessory use under the Unified Land Development Code…

In Forsyth County's A1 agricultural zoning district, a shed can go up without a building permit only if it stays at or…

In unincorporated Fulton County's single-family districts, garage and carport parking spaces count toward the minimum…

Sheds and other accessory buildings in unincorporated Gwinnett County must sit at least 5 feet from property lines, or…

A backyard shed under 144 square feet can sit as close as 5 feet from the side or rear property line in unincorporated…

In unincorporated Houston County, a detached shed or accessory building can cover no more than 30 percent of the rear…

Johns Creek lists detached carports as accessory structures (Zoning Ordinance Art. III), so they must sit in the rear…

Macon-Bibb County requires detached sheds and other accessory buildings to sit at least 10 feet from the main house and…

A backyard shed in Marietta's R-1 district must sit at least 10 feet from the side or rear lot line under Section…

A detached, one-story tool or storage shed on a lot in unincorporated Newton County needs no building permit if its…

Sheds and outbuildings in Paulding County must sit at least 10 feet off the side and rear property lines and cannot…

In unincorporated Rockdale County, Code Section 218-7 caps how many accessory buildings, like sheds and detached…

In Roswell's AG-43, RS-87 and RS-30 single-family districts, sheds and other accessory structures need 20 feet from the…

South Fulton's zoning ordinance classifies tool sheds, storage sheds, and detached garages as accessory structures…

A shed or other accessory building in unincorporated Walton County must sit at least five feet from any property line…

Warner Robins requires a building permit for any roofed accessory structure over 20 square feet, including sheds, under…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, an accessory structure built with or after the main house on a lot under three…

In unincorporated Bartow County, a personal storage building, garage, or other accessory building under 400 square feet…

Atlanta currently prohibits attached ADUs, so a garage conversion into a separate dwelling is not allowed by-right…

Converting a Chatham County garage or other non-habitable space into living quarters requires a building permit. The…

Clayton County treats habitable garage quarters as an accessory dwelling. Converting a garage into living space, or…

Johns Creek does not have a code section specifically titled garage conversions. The Zoning Ordinance lists detached…

Atlanta allows tiny homes only as detached accessory dwelling units up to 750 sq ft and 20 ft tall in R-4, R-4A, and…

Unincorporated Bartow County's zoning ordinance bars anyone from living in a tiny house, whether full time or…

Clayton County has no separate 'tiny home' ordinance. A freestanding backyard living unit is treated as an accessory…

In unincorporated Floyd County, a tiny home is only lawful if it fits one of three classes the Unified Land Development…

Johns Creek's Zoning Ordinance has no provision specifically for tiny homes. A detached tiny dwelling on a…

South Fulton's zoning code does not treat a tiny home as its own building type. It only allows one as an accessory…