ZoningVerdict

Accessory dwelling units in Port St. Lucie, FL

What the Port St. Lucie zoning ordinance says about accessory dwelling units, district by district. Section numbers link to the official ordinance.

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Port St. Lucie's citywide Definitions chapter (Sec. 153.01, most recently amended by Ord. Nos. 24-82, 25-06, and 25-24, all adopted in 2025) now defines "ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT (ADU)" as a secondary housing unit on the same parcel as a primary dwelling, with its own bathroom, kitchen, and separate exterior entrance, and expressly distinguishes it from a guest house. However, no residential district's own use table (Secs. 158.071 through 158.081, covering RE, RS-1 through RS-3, RM-5 through RM-15, and RMH) lists ADU as a permitted or special exception use, and Sec. 158.217 (Accessory Uses and Structures) does not include an ADU among the accessory uses allowed in the single-family districts. This gap coincides with Florida Statute 163.31771 (as strengthened by 2025's SB-48), which required municipalities to adopt ordinances allowing ADUs in single-family zones by December 1, 2025, and bars a blanket ban, a size cap below 1,000 square feet, or an owner-occupancy requirement. This pack's source (codified through Ord. No. 25-68, adopted November 24, 2025) predates that deadline by about one week; the City appears to have added the ADU definition as a first step but had not yet amended the district use tables to operationalize it as of this fetch. Confirm directly with the Planning and Zoning Department whether an ADU-enabling amendment has since been adopted (it should exist under state law by December 1, 2025) before assuming ADUs are unavailable.

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