Corinth · ADU cost
What it costs to build an ADU in Corinth, NY
An 800 sq ft accessory dwelling unit in Corinth runs roughly $200k–260k, or about $249–327/sq ft, and that per-square-foot figure sits deliberately above the $204–268/sq ft a full house costs here. An ADU still needs one whole kitchen, one whole bath, its own service panel and its own heating plant no matter how small you draw it, and those costs do not shrink with the floor plan, so they land on half the square footage and push the rate up. Whether the town will let you build one is a separate question from what it costs, and it gets answered parcel by parcel rather than townwide, since the Town of Corinth maps 11 districts that treat accessory units differently from one another, so read the table below as a starting point rather than a verdict.
ADU cost by size in Corinth
Standard finish, slab on grade, on a flat and clear part of the lot, general-contractor margin included. These are structure costs at Saratoga County pricing, before the service and septic work a second dwelling can trigger.
| Size | Type | $ / sq ft | Estimated total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 sq ft | Studio | $331–$433 | $130k–175k |
| 600 sq ft | One bedroom | $276–$362 | $165k–215k |
| 800 sq ft | One bedroom, larger | $249–$327 | $200k–260k |
| 1,000 sq ft | Two bedroom | $233–$305 | $235k–305k |
400 sq ft — One room plus a bath. Garage conversions and small backyard cottages land here.
600 sq ft — The most common detached build - a real bedroom, full kitchen, one bath.
800 sq ft — Room for a proper living area. Still a single bath and one kitchen.
1,000 sq ft — About as large as most codes allow an accessory unit to go.
Why the rate is higher than a house
The systems below are priced for an 800 sq ft unit. The middle column is what each system would cost if it simply shrank with the floor plan; the left column is what it actually costs once you account for the equipment a dwelling needs one of regardless of size. The gap between the two columns is the whole reason small builds price the way they do.
| System | $ / sq ft in an ADU | If it scaled with floor area | Fixed per unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site work | $7–$11 | $7 | — |
| Foundation | $16–$23 | $16 | — |
| Framing | $25–$32 | $25 | — |
| Envelope - roof, siding, windows | $32–$41 | $32 | — |
| Plumbing | $28–$34 | $16 | 55% |
| Electrical | $18–$24 | $13 | 35% |
| HVAC | $23–$28 | $15 | 45% |
| Insulation | $7–$9 | $7 | — |
| Interior finishes | $32–$43 | $27 | 15% |
| Millwork & cabinetry | $18–$28 | $11 | 55% |
The fixed-per-unit share is a modeling assumption, not a figure from the code: it is our estimate of how much of each system's budget buys equipment a dwelling needs exactly one of - a kitchen rough-in, a bath group, a service panel, a heating plant - and therefore does not shrink when the unit does. Site work, foundation, framing, envelope and insulation are treated as scaling straight with floor area, which understates the premium slightly, because a small building carries more envelope per square foot of floor than a large one.
What the Corinth code says about accessory units
Whether you can build one, and how large, is decided by the district your parcel sits in rather than by the town as a whole. The table shows how each mapped district treats ADUs alongside the lot and setback standards a second unit still has to fit inside. District boundaries and conditions vary, so treat it as a starting point and confirm the district that applies to your parcel.
| District | Min lot | Setbacks F / S / R | Max height | ADU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Density Residential (R-1) — the Town's densest district: a single-family dwelling on 0.5 ACRE with 100 ft of lot width, 25 ft front, 10 ft side and 15 ft rear setbacks. THE UTILITY FOOTNOTE IS THE MOST VALUABLE NUMBER HERE: the half-acre MAY BE REDUCED TO A QUARTER ACRE (0.25) WITH EITHER PUBLIC SEWER OR PUBLIC WATER — either one, not both — which is an unusually generous trigger, since most Saratoga towns require both services before granting their best rung. A two-family dwelling sits at 0.75 acre / 150 ft, also reducible to a half acre on the same either-or condition. MULTI-FAMILY IS WHERE THE REAL CONSTRAINT LIVES: one acre is required for EACH multi-family dwelling of up to four units, and any multi-family dwelling exceeding four units per acre requires BOTH public sewer AND public water — so the four-unit threshold, not the acre, is what gates a larger project. Multi-family and townhouse are site plan uses at 40% coverage; antique shop, medical clinic, mixed use, nursing home, recreation facility, retail and tavern are site plan uses at 60%. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 0.5 ac | 25 / 10 / 15 ft | — | No |
| Moderate Density Residential (R-2) — a single-family dwelling on 1 ACRE with 100 ft of lot width, 40 ft front, 15 ft side and 15 ft rear setbacks. The law states the reason for the step down from R-1 explicitly and it is worth quoting in substance: THE ABSENCE OF EXISTING OR PROPOSED PUBLIC WATER AND SEWER SERVICE LIMITS THE CAPACITY OF R-2 TO ACCOMMODATE MORE INTENSIVE DENSITY — so unlike R-1 there is no utility footnote and no reduction available; the one-acre minimum is the standard, full stop. The front setback is 40 ft against R-1's 25 ft, the deepest of the three conventional residential districts. Manufactured homes and modular homes are permitted alongside site-built single-family dwellings at the same 1 acre / 100 ft, and agricultural use is permitted at 2 acres / 150 ft. Two-family dwellings take 1 acre at 150 ft of width. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 1 ac | 40 / 15 / 15 ft | — | No |
| South Corinth Hamlet (SCH) — a single-family dwelling on 1 ACRE with 150 ft of lot width, 30 ft front, 15 ft side and 15 ft rear setbacks. The district recognises South Corinth as a distinct social and cultural place with MIXED LAND USES AT A HIGHER DENSITY than the surrounding countryside, and the law states expressly that modular homes, manufactured homes and other single-family dwelling units are allowed here. NOTE THE SHAPE OF THE HAMLET LOT: SCH matches R-2's one-acre minimum but requires 150 FT OF WIDTH against R-2's 100 ft, while cutting the front setback from 40 ft to 30 ft. So a hamlet lot is wider, shallower and sits closer to the street than a Moderate Density lot of the same area — which is the dimensional signature of a hamlet form, and it means a given stretch of road frontage yields fewer SCH lots than R-2 lots despite the identical acreage. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 1 ac | 30 / 15 / 15 ft | — | No |
| Rural Residential (R-R) — a single-family dwelling on 2 ACRES with 200 ft of lot width, 30 ft front, 15 ft side and 15 ft rear setbacks. The district's stated purpose is to preserve and enhance the Town's rural and agricultural resources, and the law is candid about why the standard is what it is: PARCELS IN R-R EXHIBIT MODERATE TO SEVERE DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINTS AND LACK PUBLIC WATER AND SEWER. That is a planning judgment recorded in the code itself, and it should be read as a warning about site conditions rather than merely a density statement — expect slope, wetland, soil or access problems on R-R land and diligence accordingly. R-R doubles R-2's lot and width while keeping SCH's shallower 30 ft front setback and the same 15 ft side and rear yards, so the envelope on the lot is generous once a buildable area is found. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 2 ac | 30 / 15 / 15 ft | — | No |
| Commercial (C) — the Town's retail, professional-service and institutional district, which the law ties explicitly to Corinth's TOURISM AND RECREATION INDUSTRY and its economic benefits. The recorded baseline is the ordinary commercial site plan row: 1 ACRE with 200 ft of lot width, 40 ft front, 20 ft side, 15 ft rear and 50% MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE. That row covers automotive dealer and repair, drive-through bank, car wash, cultural facility, multi-family dwelling, medical clinic and nursing home. THE HEAVIER USES STEP UP ON BOTH LOT AND SETBACK RATHER THAN COVERAGE: agribusiness, gasoline station (with or without retail), hotel and Industry I all require 1.5 ACRES, and the gasoline stations, hotel and club/lodge take a much deeper 75 ft front / 50 ft side / 75 ft rear envelope while staying at 50% coverage. A hotel additionally needs 300 ft of lot width, the widest requirement in the district. A public parking garage is the one use that drops below an acre, at 0.5 acre / 100 ft. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 1 ac | 40 / 20 / 15 ft | — | No |
| Overlay District 1 (OD-1) — a single-purpose overlay whose only listed use is the ADULT ORIENTED BUSINESS, at 2 ACRES with 200 ft of lot width, 60 ft front, 30 ft side, 50 ft rear and 60% maximum lot coverage, as a site plan use. The law states the district's purpose plainly as permitting the right of entrepreneurs to be proprietors of adult oriented businesses and businesses established for adult entertainment — this is the Town's constitutionally-required provision of somewhere for a protected use to go, which is why it exists as a mapped overlay with real dimensional standards rather than as a prohibition. IT IS RECORDED RATHER THAN OMITTED PRECISELY BECAUSE IT CARRIES ITS OWN FIGURES: unlike the overlays omitted in Milton, Ballston and Waterford, which set no lot area, yard or coverage of their own, OD-1 states a complete envelope. The 60 ft front and 50 ft rear setbacks are notably deeper than anything in the Commercial district's base row, which is the buffering the use attracts. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 2 ac | 60 / 30 / 50 ft | — | No |
| Overlay District 2 (OD-2) — the solar overlay, created to encourage development of solar energy systems while protecting community health, safety and welfare. Its only listed use is the LARGE-SCALE SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, and its standards are the most demanding of any district in the Town on setback: 10 ACRES with 400 FT of lot width and 100 FT ON ALL THREE SETBACKS — front, side and rear alike — at 60% maximum lot coverage. A uniform 100 ft perimeter is unusual and is the district's whole regulatory idea: it buffers the array from every boundary equally rather than treating the street differently. Note that the Land Use Map has a dedicated inset — 'Land Use Law Map Overlay District 2' — so OD-2's extent is mapped separately from the main district map and must be checked there. THE OVERLAY ORIGINATED AS L.L. No. 3-2022, which amended the previous Chapter 89 to create Overlay District 2 for solar; that amendment has now been absorbed into the 2024 replacement law recorded here. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 10 ac | 100 / 100 / 100 ft | — | No |
| Industrial (I) — 2 ACRES with 200 ft of lot width, 50 ft front, 25 ft side, 25 ft rear and 80% MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE, the highest coverage allowance in the Town. That base row covers Industry I, self-service storage and warehouse as permitted uses. THE SITE PLAN TIER SPLITS SHARPLY BY SCALE: automotive dealer, automotive repair and heavy equipment repair drop to 1 acre at 60% coverage with a shallower 40-20-15 envelope, while INDUSTRY II REQUIRES 5 ACRES and an INDUSTRIAL PARK 10 ACRES, both at the full 80% coverage and 50-25-25 setbacks. The special permit tier is larger still and is where the Town put its heaviest uses: an AIRPORT at 20 ACRES with 100 ft setbacks on all three sides and 50% coverage, and a COMPOST FACILITY and TRANSFER STATION each at 10 ACRES with 75 ft front and 50 ft side and rear at 80% coverage. Mining is a special permit use with 100 ft setbacks all round and no stated minimum lot area. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 2 ac | 50 / 25 / 25 ft | — | No |
| Low Intensity (LI) — a single-family dwelling on 3.2 ACRES with 200 ft of lot width, 40 ft front, 20 ft side and 15 ft rear setbacks. THIS DISTRICT EXISTS EXCLUSIVELY WITHIN THE ADIRONDACK PARK and its minimum lot area is the Adirondack Park Agency land-use intensity guideline rather than a figure the Town chose. APA review sits ON TOP of Town approval: the law notes that certain uses within the Park may be listed as APA Class A or Class B Regional Projects and are subject to Agency review, and § 810 of the APA Act governs amendments to those project lists. Town approval alone is not sufficient to build here — budget for a second, independent agency process with its own timeline. THE 3.2-ACRE FIGURE IS THE APA'S LOW INTENSITY USE INTENSITY GUIDELINE, not a local choice, which is why it is an odd number: the Adirondack Park Agency sets roughly 3.2 acres per principal building in Low Intensity areas, and Corinth has adopted the guideline directly. A group camp is permitted at the same 3.2 acres / 200 ft, as is a non-tower wireless telecommunication facility. Of the three Adirondack districts LI is by a wide margin the most developable — 3.2 acres against 8.5 in Rural Use and 42.7 in Resource Management. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 3.2 ac | 40 / 20 / 15 ft | — | No |
| Resource Management (RM) — THE MOST RESTRICTIVE DISTRICT IN THE TOWN: a single-family dwelling requires 42.7 ACRES with 500 FT of lot width, a 150 FT front setback, 75 ft side and 100 ft rear. THIS DISTRICT EXISTS EXCLUSIVELY WITHIN THE ADIRONDACK PARK and its minimum lot area is the Adirondack Park Agency land-use intensity guideline rather than a figure the Town chose. APA review sits ON TOP of Town approval: the law notes that certain uses within the Park may be listed as APA Class A or Class B Regional Projects and are subject to Agency review, and § 810 of the APA Act governs amendments to those project lists. Town approval alone is not sufficient to build here — budget for a second, independent agency process with its own timeline. THE 42.7-ACRE FIGURE IS THE APA'S RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTENSITY GUIDELINE — roughly one principal building per 42.7 acres — and it is the same number that appears in the Town of Greenfield's Parkland Recreational district, which is a useful cross-check that neither figure is a transcription error. RM covers lands where protecting, managing and enhancing forest, agricultural, recreational and open space resources is described as of paramount importance, with open space uses, forest management, agriculture and recreation found throughout. A ski center is a special permit use at 42.7 acres with 500 ft width and a 150 ft front / 200 ft side / 200 ft rear envelope — the deepest setbacks anywhere in Corinth. Mining is a special permit use with 150 ft front and 100 ft side and rear and no stated minimum lot. TREAT RM AS CONSERVATION LAND WITH A THEORETICAL SINGLE HOMESITE rather than as developable acreage; at 42.7 acres per dwelling it is not subdividable at any ordinary parcel size. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 42.7 ac | 150 / 75 / 100 ft | — | No |
| Rural Use (RU) — a single-family dwelling on 8.5 ACRES with 250 ft of lot width, a 75 ft front setback, 75 ft side and 100 ft rear. THIS DISTRICT EXISTS EXCLUSIVELY WITHIN THE ADIRONDACK PARK and its minimum lot area is the Adirondack Park Agency land-use intensity guideline rather than a figure the Town chose. APA review sits ON TOP of Town approval: the law notes that certain uses within the Park may be listed as APA Class A or Class B Regional Projects and are subject to Agency review, and § 810 of the APA Act governs amendments to those project lists. Town approval alone is not sufficient to build here — budget for a second, independent agency process with its own timeline. THE 8.5-ACRE FIGURE IS THE APA'S RURAL USE INTENSITY GUIDELINE, sitting between Low Intensity's 3.2 acres and Resource Management's 42.7. The setbacks are the second deepest in the Town after Resource Management, and note that the SIDE YARD (75 ft) EQUALS THE FRONT YARD while the rear is deeper still at 100 ft — an unusual profile that makes a narrow RU parcel hard to use even at 8.5 acres, since 150 ft of the width is consumed by side yards before anything is built. Read the width and the side yards together rather than the acreage alone. Maximum lot coverage is stated as 'N/A' for the dwelling rows in this district, so maxLotCoverage is null. The column is genuinely populated elsewhere in the same table — commercial and institutional uses carry 40%, 50%, 60% or 80% figures — so the N/A on housing is a deliberate absence rather than an unfilled cell. L.L. No. 1-2024 STATES NO MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT FOR THIS DISTRICT. Every district table carries the same six columns — minimum lot area, minimum lot width, front, side and rear setbacks, and maximum lot coverage — and height is not among them. The law DOES define MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT in its definitions (measured from lowest manipulated grade to the highest point, excluding belfries, spires, cupolas, penthouses, domes not used for human occupancy, chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, mechanical appurtenances, barns, silos and monuments), but it applies that definition only in specific places — a Planned Development District is capped at three stories or 35 ft, and there are separate limits for fences and solar systems — never as a district standard. maxHeight is therefore null, which is the correct record. Corinth is the second Saratoga jurisdiction found this way, after the Town of Saratoga.) | 8.5 ac | 75 / 75 / 100 ft | — | No |
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Costs an ADU adds that a house does not
- Septic and water A second dwelling adds bedrooms to the design flow, which on an unsewered parcel often means expanding or replacing the existing system rather than tapping it. This is the single most common reason an ADU budget moves after design, and it is site-specific enough that no model should quote it - get it evaluated early.
- Utility service National Grid territory. A detached unit needs power run to it, and whether it goes on its own meter or subfeeds the main house changes both the cost and the permit path.
- Access and parking Many codes require an added parking space for the accessory unit, and a detached unit usually needs a driveway extension or a path, both of which count against a lot-coverage or impervious-surface cap.
- Short-term rentalsNo local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission. No short-term-rental provision exists in the Town of Corinth Land Use Law. L.L. No. 1-2024, which repealed and replaced Chapter 89 in its entirety, defines no short-term rental, vacation rental or transient-occupancy use, and none of the eleven district tables lists one. There is no registration or licensing requirement. THE ENUMERATED SHORT-STAY USES ARE THE BED-AND-BREAKFAST — a permitted use in High Density Residential at 0.75 acre and in Moderate Density Residential at 1 acre — the HOTEL, a Commercial district site plan use at 1.5 acres with 300 ft of lot width, and the GROUP CAMP in the Adirondack Low Intensity district at 3.2 acres. Each district table is a closed list separating Permitted Uses, Site Plan Uses and Special Permit Uses, so a use appearing in none of the three has no route to approval. Recorded 'unknown' rather than 'prohibited' because the Town has never legislated on short-term rental specifically, and whole-house rental of a permitted single-family dwelling is arguably the residential use itself. Absence of a found STR provision is NOT permission. THIS MATTERS UNUSUALLY MUCH IN CORINTH: the Commercial district's stated purpose expressly recognises the Town's tourism and recreation industry, the Town sits on the Hudson at the Adirondack Park boundary near Lake Luzerne, and a substantial part of it lies inside the Park — so short-stay demand is real and unaddressed. Get a written answer from the Building Department at (518) 654-2012 before underwriting it. Separately, New York State has required every short-term-rental host to register the unit with the State through the county registry since 2025, regardless of what the municipality allows, and Saratoga County HAS adopted a county-level short-term-rental programme: a 3% occupancy tax and a MANDATORY county registry, covering any room or space in a dwelling let for under 30 consecutive days. Registration runs two years, an unregistered host faces fines of up to $500, and the booking platform is separately liable for processing an unregistered listing — so Airbnb and Vrbo will delist. The City of Saratoga Springs runs its own registry alongside it. Separate question from whether you can build the unit.
- Building dept(518) 654-2012
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Building a full house instead?
A standard-finish house in Corinth runs $204–268/sq ft, about $370k–480k at 1,800 sq ft . See what it costs to build a house in Corinth.
ADU cost in nearby towns
Mechanicville (City)
800 sq ft ≈ $200k–260k
Saratoga Springs (City)
800 sq ft ≈ $200k–260k
Ballston
800 sq ft ≈ $200k–260k
Charlton
800 sq ft ≈ $200k–260k
Clifton Park
800 sq ft ≈ $200k–260k
Day
800 sq ft ≈ $200k–260k
All Saratoga County towns: Mechanicville (City) · Saratoga Springs (City) · Ballston · Charlton · Clifton Park · Day · Edinburg · Galway · Greenfield · Halfmoon · Malta · Milton · Moreau · Northumberland · Providence · Saratoga · Stillwater · Waterford · Wilton · Ballston Spa (Village) · Corinth (Village) · Round Lake (Village) · Schuylerville (Village) · South Glens Falls (Village) · Stillwater (Village) · Victory (Village) · Waterford (Village)
More on Corinth: Can you build an ADU here? · Zoning for new construction · Saratoga County build cost
ADU cost in Corinth: common questions
How much does it cost to build an ADU in Corinth, NY?
An 800 sq ft accessory dwelling unit in Town of Corinth runs roughly $200k–260k at a standard finish, general-contractor margin included. A 400 sq ft studio runs about $130k–175k. Those are structure costs on an easy site and do not include the septic, water or electrical service work a second unit often triggers.
Why does an ADU cost more per square foot than a house in Corinth?
Because a lot of a dwelling's cost is per dwelling, not per square foot. One kitchen, one bath group, one service panel and one heating plant cost about the same in an 800 sq ft cottage as in a 1,800 sq ft house, so on the smaller unit they get spread over less than half the floor area. That is why an ADU here prices at $249–327/sq ft against $204–268/sq ft for a full house, even though it is the same trades doing the same work.
Are ADUs allowed in Corinth?
Town of Corinth has 11 districts. All districts prohibit ADUs. Check the specific address with the free ADU checker or confirm with the building department at (518) 654-2012 before you spend money on design.
Can I rent an ADU in Corinth short term?
No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Corinth. ADU rules and short-term-rental rules are set separately, so a unit you are allowed to build is not automatically one you are allowed to rent nightly. Confirm both before you underwrite the build on short-term-rental income.
ADU costs are modeled estimates in current 2026 dollars at the Saratoga County regional index, general-contractor margin included, derived from Offsite's cost engine with a stated adjustment for the equipment a dwelling needs one of regardless of size. They are planning numbers for decision-support only - not a bid, quote, or guarantee, and not legal, architectural or engineering advice. They cover the structure and exclude septic expansion, utility service runs, site work beyond a flat and clear pad, and permit fees. ADU eligibility, size, owner-occupancy and permit conditions in the Town of Corinth vary by district and often carry exceptions this page does not show; zoning last reviewed 2026-08-01; verify with the building department at (518) 654-2012 before relying on any answer. Sources: Offsite / Aldo cost engine (costEngine.js + constants.js); zoning dataset (municipalData.js).