ADU · Monroe County
Can you build an ADU in Riga, NY?
Town of Riga has 1 district. The only district allows ADUs with a special-use permit. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:
What the Riga 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 Residential/Agricultural (RRA) — Riga's only conventional residential district, covering essentially the whole town outside the overlays and the commercial and industrial strips. THE LOT MINIMUM TURNS ON A TWO-TIER SERVICING TEST AND THE TEST IS UNUSUALLY DEMANDING: § 95-25D(1) requires ONE ACRE with 210 FT of lot width where there is 'no public water or sewer OR with EITHER public water or sewer', and § 95-25D(2) drops it to 30,000 sf with 150 ft of width only 'with public water AND sewer'. Having one service is worth nothing — the smaller lot requires BOTH, which is a stricter formulation than the sewer-conditional tests in Perinton, Ogden or Sweden where partial service usually buys an intermediate figure. THE RECORDED ONE ACRE IS THE RIGHT FIGURE FOR ESSENTIALLY THE ENTIRE TOWN AND THIS IS EVIDENCED, NOT ASSUMED: a 1,200-parcel residential sample from the Monroe County parcel layer (SWIS 264889) returned 1,174 on PRIVATE SEPTIC against just 13 on public sewer, while 1,195 of the same parcels are on PUBLIC WATER against 3 private. Riga is therefore a town on public water and private septic almost universally, which lands it squarely in the 'either but not both' branch — so the 30,000 sf tier applies to a rounding error of about 1% of parcels and must not be treated as the normal case. Front setback 60 ft, MEASURED FROM THE FRONT LOT LINE — § 95-25D(4) says so expressly, which is worth noting because the Town of Rush in this same county measures its front setback from the highway CENTER LINE; Riga's 60 is a true property-line figure and the two are not comparable. Rear 50 ft, rising to 60 ft where the rear yard abuts a street. THE SIDE SETBACK IS A FORMULA, NOT A FIXED NUMBER: 10% OF THE MINIMUM REQUIRED LOT WIDTH AT THE BUILDING LINE, rounded to the nearest whole foot, which evaluates to 21 FT on the one-acre 210 ft standard (the recorded figure) and to 15 ft on the serviced 150 ft standard — and rises to 60 ft where a side yard abuts a street. Note the formula keys to the district's REQUIRED width rather than the lot's actual width, so it does not grow on an oversized lot. Maximum height is two stories OR 35 feet, WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER — the stricter of the two formulations, so a tall two-storey design is cut by the storey count before it reaches 35 ft. Barns, silos, water towers and other farm structures are exempt from the height cap provided they stand at least 100 ft from every property line, and any building housing livestock or a noxious commodity must hold 100 ft to any lot line regardless of height. NO MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS STATED ANYWHERE IN § 95-25 AND THE NULL IS DELIBERATE — the RRA envelope is controlled by the setbacks, the height and the minimum living-area schedule alone. Minimum livable area is substantial and tiered by form: 1,200 sf for a one-storey, 1,400 sf for a one-and-one-half-storey (at least 900 sf on the first floor), 1,400 sf for a split-level (at least 1,000 sf), 1,600 sf for a two-storey (at least 800 sf on the first floor), and 1,040 sf PER RESIDENCE for a two-family or duplex. | 1 ac | 60 / 21 / 50 ft | 35 ft | Special permit |
ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Riga
No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Riga. NO SHORT-TERM RENTAL PROVISION EXISTS IN RIGA, AND THE FULL SWEEP WAS RUN RATHER THAN THE ZONING-ONLY SEARCH. Article V Use Districts (93,603 characters, covering every district in the town) returns nothing for 'short-term rental', 'tourist home' or 'bed-and-breakfast' in either hyphenation, and all 32 chapters of the Riga Town Code were enumerated from the eCode360 table of contents and swept for a rental, lodging, licensing, registration or occupancy chapter — none exists. That whole-code step is not optional in this county: Mendon hides a complete STR permit regime in Ch. 208 and Gates in Ch. 148, and a zoning-only search in either town returns a confident false negative. Riga's negative is therefore a tested one. ABSENCE IS NOT PERMISSION: § 95-25B lists the RRA District's permitted uses as a closed set with a Planning Board catch-all at § 95-25C(14) for uses 'of a similar character' — so a whole-house short-term rental is not authorised by silence and would have to be brought as a similar-character special use, at the Planning Board's discretion. RIGA HAS NO COMMERCIAL LODGING USE OF ANY KIND IN ITS RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT — no tourist home, no bed-and-breakfast, no boutique hotel — which is a narrower position than Mendon (tourist homes and B&Bs by special permit in two districts) and Rush (boutique hotels and B&Bs by special permit, but on a commercial list). New York State's 2025 statewide short-term rental registry (Ch. 99 of the Laws of 2025) obliges every host to register regardless of local law. Confirm with the Building Inspector at (585) 293-3880 ext. 124. 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
- UtilityRG&E territory.
- Building dept(585) 293-3880 ext. 124
- Last reviewed2026-08-13
ADU FAQ — Riga, NY
Are ADUs allowed in Riga, NY?
Town of Riga has 1 district. The only district allows ADUs with a special-use permit. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department at (585) 293-3880 ext. 124.
Do I need a special permit for an ADU in Riga?
Yes. Every district in Town of Riga requires a special-use permit for an ADU rather than allowing one as of right. Check the conditions attached to it before you design.
Can I use an ADU as a short-term rental in Riga?
No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Riga. 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 Riga
Permission is one question and budget is another. An 800 sq ft accessory unit here runs roughly $200k–260k 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 Riga, priced by size.
More on Riga: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · All Monroe County towns
ADU information for Town of Riga is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-08-13) 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 building department at (585) 293-3880 ext. 124 before relying on any answer. Source: Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset, municipalData.js.