ADU · Delaware County
Can you build an ADU in Franklin, NY?
Town of Franklin has 6 districts. 4 districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions, 2 require a special-use permit. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:
What the Franklin code indicates by district
The table below shows how each district treats ADUs, alongside the lot and setback standards that govern a second unit. District boundaries and conditions vary, so treat this as a starting point and confirm the district that applies to your parcel.
| District | Min lot | Setbacks F / S / R | Max height | ADU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rural-I District — THE STATE AND COUNTY HIGHWAY CORRIDOR, defined geographically rather than by map colour: § 404A includes all lands within 500 FEET OF THE CENTER LINE of a State or County highway with DIRECT FRONTAGE on the right-of-way, where the highway is one maintained by the County or State as of the ordinance's effective date and shown on the Zoning Map. Its purpose is to allow a variety of mixed uses appropriate to a high-volume, good-access road. Minimum lot size 1 acre; minimum frontage 250 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 20 ft each; maximum lot coverage 25%; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1, AND FOR EACH INCREMENT IN THAT RATIO THE REQUIRED FRONTAGE EXTENDS BY 50 FT — a shape rule that quietly penalises deep narrow lots twice over. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise. THIS DISTRICT IS THE ONE WHERE THAT ASSUMPTION IS LEAST SAFE, because it fronts State and County highways whose rights-of-way are routinely WIDER than 50 ft: on a 66 ft right-of-way the same rule gives about 67 ft from the lot line, and on an 80 ft right-of-way about 60 ft. The recorded 75 is therefore the conservative end. Check the actual right-of-way width before siting. Permitted uses are one one- or two-family dwelling per lot, one mobile home per lot, agricultural practices, forestry management and wildlife management; everything else in Schedule I is a special permit use or prohibited. ADU: there is no accessory apartment in this code, but the accessory-use list includes a FARM LABOR DWELLING, NO MORE THAN TWO — a genuine second (and third) dwelling unit permitted as an accessory use, with an occupancy condition limiting it to farm labour. That is why aduPermitted is special-provisions here rather than not-permitted. The general route to a second unit is different and easier: a TWO-FAMILY DWELLING is a permitted use in this district. | 1 ac | 75 / 20 / 20 ft | 35 ft | Occupancy restricted |
| Rural-III District — THE TOWN ROAD CORRIDOR: § 405A includes all lands within 500 FEET OF THE CENTER LINE of a town road with direct frontage on the right-of-way, counting roads maintained by the Town as of the ordinance's effective date BUT EXPRESSLY EXCLUDING SEASONAL USE ROADS — a parcel fronting a seasonal road falls to Rural V and its 5-acre minimum instead, which is a 2-acre difference decided entirely by the road's maintenance status. Purpose: lower-density residential, agriculture and limited commercial. Minimum lot area 3 acres; minimum frontage 300 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 25 ft each; maximum lot coverage 20%; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1. Front setback 75 ft from the road centre line, recorded as 50 ft, being the lot-line equivalent on a 50 ft right-of-way; on a narrower right-of-way the rule binds harder (a 33 ft right-of-way gives about 58.5 ft). READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise. Permitted uses and accessory uses are the same list as Rural I. ADU: there is no accessory apartment in this code, but the accessory-use list includes a FARM LABOR DWELLING, NO MORE THAN TWO — a genuine second (and third) dwelling unit permitted as an accessory use, with an occupancy condition limiting it to farm labour. That is why aduPermitted is special-provisions here rather than not-permitted. The general route to a second unit is different and easier: a TWO-FAMILY DWELLING is a permitted use in this district. | 3 ac | 50 / 25 / 25 ft | 35 ft | Occupancy restricted |
| Rural-V District — THE BACKLAND DISTRICT AND THE DEFAULT FOR REMOTE PARCELS: § 406A includes all lands NOT within 500 ft of an existing Town, County or State right-of-way, plus all lands fronting on Town "Seasonal Use Only" roads as designated on the Zoning Map. Purpose: only low-density residential development with limited commercial uses. Minimum lot area 5 acres; minimum frontage 350 ft, the largest in the town; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 30 ft each; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1. Front setback 75 ft from the road centre line, recorded as 50 ft on the 50 ft right-of-way basis. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise. § 406F(6) reads "Maximum lot coverage: Fifteen per cent (25%)" — the words say fifteen and the numeral in brackets says twenty-five, and they cannot both be right. 15 is recorded on two grounds. First, where words and figures conflict the words conventionally govern. Second, and more persuasively, the town's coverage figures form a clean descending series as the districts get more rural — Hamlet 25%, Rural I 25%, Rural III 20%, Public Water Supply 10% — and 15% is exactly the missing step, while 25% would make the most rural district identical to the least. THE SCHEDULE THAT WOULD SETTLE IT DOES NOT EXIST: the table of contents lists "SCHEDULE II — TABLE OF DIMENSIONAL REGULATIONS" at page 73, but the document ends at page 73 with Schedule I and contains no Schedule II at all. Raise this with the Code Enforcement Officer before relying on either figure; the difference is 10% of a 5-acre lot. ADU: there is no accessory apartment in this code, but the accessory-use list includes a FARM LABOR DWELLING, NO MORE THAN TWO — a genuine second (and third) dwelling unit permitted as an accessory use, with an occupancy condition limiting it to farm labour. That is why aduPermitted is special-provisions here rather than not-permitted. The general route to a second unit is different and easier: a TWO-FAMILY DWELLING is a permitted use in this district. | 5 ac | 50 / 30 / 30 ft | 35 ft | Occupancy restricted |
| Hamlet District — THE HAMLET OF TREADWELL specifically, as denoted on the Zoning Map; this is a single named crossroads community rather than a general category, and Franklin's other settlement, the VILLAGE of Franklin, is a separate jurisdiction entirely and not governed by this ordinance. Purpose: to recognise a crossroads community where residential and commercial business uses exist in harmony, providing basic services for the surrounding community and homes for the people who provide them. Minimum lot area ONE-HALF ACRE, the smallest in the town; minimum frontage 100 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 20 ft each; maximum lot coverage 25%; maximum depth-to-width ratio 3:1, tighter than the 4:1 used everywhere else. Front setback 55 ft from the road centre line, which on a 50 ft right-of-way resolves to 30 ft from the front lot line — recorded as 30. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise. Permitted uses and accessory uses are the same lists as Rural I, so the district's mixed character comes from Schedule I's special permit column rather than from its by-right uses. ADU: there is no accessory apartment in this code, but the accessory-use list includes a FARM LABOR DWELLING, NO MORE THAN TWO — a genuine second (and third) dwelling unit permitted as an accessory use, with an occupancy condition limiting it to farm labour. That is why aduPermitted is special-provisions here rather than not-permitted. The general route to a second unit is different and easier: a TWO-FAMILY DWELLING is a permitted use in this district. | 0.5 ac | 30 / 20 / 20 ft | 35 ft | Occupancy restricted |
| Public Water Supply District — THE MOST RESTRICTIVE DISTRICT IN THE TOWN, AND THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO BE MISSED because it is defined by a radius rather than by a mapped block: § 408A includes all lands WITHIN A 500-FOOT RADIUS OF THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY WELLS AND SPRINGS for the Village of Franklin and the hamlet of Treadwell. The stated rationale is the wellhead cone of depression — contamination entering groundwater within it is certain to reach the pumping well — so the restrictions are about water, not density. Everything, including a single-family dwelling, is a SPECIAL PERMIT use — one one- or two-family dwelling per lot, one mobile home per lot, agricultural practices, forest management, wildlife management practices, public utilities and facilities, public parks and recreation facilities, and the accessory uses listed for the Rural I district, all only by special permit from the Planning Board. Minimum lot size 10 ACRES, twice Rural V's; minimum frontage 300 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 30 ft; maximum lot coverage 10%, the tightest in the town; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1. NOTE THE FRONT SETBACK IS THE ONE DISTRICT MEASURED FROM THE RIGHT-OF-WAY RATHER THAN THE CENTRE LINE: § 408F(4) states 200 FEET FROM RIGHT-OF-WAY, so 200 is recorded directly with no conversion, and it is by far the deepest front setback in the town. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise. | 10 ac | 200 / 30 / 30 ft | 35 ft | Special permit |
| Development Limitations Overlay District — AN OVERLAY, NOT A STANDALONE DISTRICT: § 409D makes minimum lot size, minimum frontage, maximum height, front setback, side and rear setbacks, maximum lot coverage and the depth-to-width ratio ALL "same as the underlying district", which is why every dimensional field here is null. Exactly one thing changes, and it changes yield rather than dimensions. § 409D(1) applies only WHERE THE ORIGINAL PARCEL BEING SUBDIVIDED HAS MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT of its land area in one or more Development Limitations. Above that threshold the maximum number of lots allowed per acre of the ORIGINAL parcel is 0.44 in Rural I, 0.15 in Rural III and 0.09 in Rural V. Read those as acres per lot and the effect is stark: 2.27 acres per lot in Rural I against a 1-acre minimum, 6.67 acres in Rural III against 3, and 11.1 ACRES PER LOT IN RURAL V AGAINST A 5-ACRE MINIMUM — the overlay more than doubles the land needed per lot in every district. The 50% threshold is what makes Franklin's version less pervasive than Middletown's, whose overlay fires when any two of five limitations exist "to any degree", but it is also all-or-nothing: a parcel at 51% encumbrance takes the full density cap. TRIGGERS: flood hazard areas including those on Flood Hazard Boundary Map No. H 01-10 dated 1988-01-18; freshwater wetlands as defined and protected by the NYS Freshwater Wetlands Act; steep slopes of 15% OR MORE; and high elevation areas of 2,000 FEET OR GREATER — the same 2,000 ft trigger as the Town of Delhi and 500 ft lower than Middletown's. PROCESS: the Code Enforcement Officer screens every zoning permit application for construction in the Flood Hazard Area or within 100 ft of a NYS regulated wetland; no zoning permit issues for construction in the Flood Hazard Area until the Planning Board grants a Special Permit, and none within 100 ft of a regulated wetland until the applicant has NYSDEC approval. Plans must comply with the NYS Wetlands Act and with Local Law No. 1 of 1987, Flood Damage Prevention. THE OVERLAY MAPS ARE ON FILE IN THE TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE AND ARE NOT PUBLISHED ONLINE, so applicability cannot be settled from the code text — the Planning Board determines it during subdivision review. Schedule I additionally makes one- and two-family dwellings and mobile homes SPECIAL PERMIT uses within the overlay rather than permitted uses, and marks multi-family dwellings and most commercial and industrial uses as prohibited outright. | — | — | — | Special permit |
ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Franklin
Short-term rentals allowed with local rules for Town of Franklin. Short-term rentals are REGULATED under a full permit regime — Local Law No. 3 of 2024, the "Transient and Short-Term Residential Rentals Local Law", which is a standalone instrument and NOT part of the zoning ordinance. It defines a short-term residential rental as a property used as a short-term transient rental UNDER 30 DAYS, whether unoccupied by the owner or occupied by both owner and a transient guest, so hosted stays are caught as well as whole-house rentals. THE PERMIT IS ANNUAL AND INSPECTION-GATED: the owner requests an inspection from the Office of Code Enforcement, and on passing it and paying the annual fee the Code Enforcement Officer issues the permit. The rental registry year runs 1 January to 31 December and the permit expires each 31 December. A SEPARATE APPLICATION, FEE AND PERMIT IS REQUIRED FOR EACH DWELLING UNIT. THE COUNTY TAX HOOK IS THE PART MOST LIKELY TO CATCH AN OUT-OF-AREA BUYER: no permit issues without proof of registration with DELAWARE COUNTY for collecting the occupancy tax, or proof on county letterhead that the property is exempt — and no RENEWAL issues without proof that all occupancy taxes owed to the county have been paid. OCCUPANCY IS CAPPED AT TWO PERSONS OVER THE AGE OF TWO PER BEDROOM for the entire premises, and the Code Enforcement Office may cut that further based on the number, size, configuration and furnishings of the sleeping rooms. THE 30-MILE RULE SHAPES REMOTE OWNERSHIP: a LOCAL MANAGER responsible for day-to-day operation must be contactable day or night and MUST RESIDE WITHIN 30 MILES of the unit; an owner whose primary residence is further than 30 miles away is a "non-resident owner" and must designate one. A local agent must be able to ARRIVE IN PERSON WITHIN 60 MINUTES of being notified of an emergency. For a non-resident owner the designation also confers criminal jurisdiction: service of an appearance ticket on the local manager as agent is good service on the owner as if served personally within Delaware County. OTHER OPERATING TERMS: on-site parking is mandatory and street parking is prohibited, with spaces at least 10 by 20 ft and no RV or camping-unit parking during the permit period; a 911 location sign must be posted clearly at the end of the driveway; proof of liability insurance and a bed tax identification number are required; house rules must be submitted and must carry emergency-service and local-manager contacts; the permit must be displayed inside the unit and an emergency contact card posted on the inside of the front or main door; records of rental dates and guest numbers must be kept and produced to the Code Enforcement Officer on request; property boundaries must be clearly delineated; and the permit may not be assigned, sold or transferred without prior written notice to the Code Enforcement Officer. Renewal requires either an affidavit that nothing about the unit has changed or an amendment setting out what did. A gap year resets you to initial-applicant status. THE FEE IS NOT IN THE LAW — it is set by Town Board resolution and changes from time to time, so ask the Town Clerk for the current figure before underwriting. 2 of 2024 "Vacation Campground", which is a separate instrument and likely governs a different transient-lodging form on the same land. These are separate questions from whether you can build an ADU — a unit you're allowed to add isn't automatically one you're allowed to rent nightly, so check both.
Good to know
- Residential lot minimum10 ac — an ADU still has to fit the district's lot and setback envelope.
- Last reviewed2026-08-24
ADU FAQ — Franklin, NY
Are ADUs allowed in Franklin, NY?
Town of Franklin has 6 districts. 4 districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions, 2 require a special-use permit. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department.
Do I need a special permit for an ADU in Franklin?
It depends on the district: 2 of 6 require a special-use permit, the rest do not. Check the district that applies to your parcel before you design.
Can I use an ADU as a short-term rental in Franklin?
Short-term rentals allowed with local rules for Town of Franklin. ADU occupancy and short-term-rental rules are separate: an ADU you can build isn't automatically one you can rent nightly. Confirm both before you count on STR income.
What an ADU costs to build in Franklin
Permission is one question and budget is another. An 800 sq ft accessory unit here runs roughly $185k–245k at a standard finish, and the per-square-foot rate comes in above a full house because the kitchen, bath, panel and heating plant cost the same either way. See the full cost to build an ADU in Franklin, priced by size.
More on Franklin: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · All Delaware County towns
ADU information for Town of Franklin is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-08-24) and provided for decision-support only — not legal or architectural advice. ADU eligibility, size, owner-occupancy and permit conditions vary by district and often carry exceptions; verify with the municipality before relying on any answer. Source: Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset, municipalData.js.