ADU · Saratoga County
Can you build an ADU in Stillwater, NY?
Town of Stillwater has 11 districts. 8 districts allow ADUs, 3 do not. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:
What the Stillwater 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring Road Transition Zone (2 ACRES PER DWELLING UNIT — the lowest density in Stillwater — with a 40% maximum lot coverage, 35 ft height, 200 ft of required road frontage, and 50 ft front / 25 ft side / 25 ft rear setbacks. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. CSR is the Town's agricultural-transition district and it carries a setback exemption found nowhere else in Table 2: NOTE 1 PROVIDES THAT THE SETBACK AND WIDTH REQUIREMENTS DO NOT APPLY TO AGRICULTURAL USES AND ROADSIDE STANDS, so a barn, farm structure or farm stand is not held to the 50-25-25 envelope. Agricultural use, livestock keeping, timber harvesting and farm stands are all permitted by right here, and farm worker housing is available by special use permit — one of only three districts (with T2 and T3G-1) where that is true. Single-family, two-family and manufactured homes are permitted by right; multifamily is a special permit. The attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT.) | 2 ac | 50 / 25 / 25 ft | 35 ft | As of right |
| Saratoga Lake Zone-1 (the Saratoga Lake shoreline district: 15,000 SF PER DWELLING UNIT, 40% maximum lot coverage, and the LOWEST HEIGHT LIMIT IN THE TOWN AT 30 FT — every other Stillwater district allows 35 ft or more, and the five-foot difference is a deliberate lake-view protection. Setbacks are 20 ft front, 15 ft side, 30 ft rear, and required road frontage is only 75 ft. NOTE THE INVERTED SETBACK PATTERN: the REAR yard at 30 ft is deeper than the FRONT at 20 ft, which is the opposite of most districts and reflects lakefront lots where the rear faces the water. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. The use list is deliberately narrow — single-family, two-family, manufactured homes and farm stands by right, bed-and-breakfast and home occupation by special permit, and NO multifamily, no agricultural use, no livestock and no timber harvesting. The attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT. The SARATOGA LAKE WATERSHED OVERLAY DISTRICT (§ 210-13) sits over this area and imposes watershed protection requirements on top of these figures — check whether a parcel falls inside it before designing anything near the lake.) | 0.34 ac | 20 / 15 / 30 ft | 30 ft | As of right |
| Route 76 Crossroads District (15,000 SF minimum lot — and NOTE THAT THIS IS ONE OF ONLY THREE DISTRICTS WHERE TABLE 2 STATES A FLAT LOT SIZE RATHER THAN A PER-DWELLING-UNIT DENSITY, alongside MB's one acre; read it as a genuine lot minimum. 60% maximum lot coverage, 35 ft height, 30 ft front / 15 ft side / 20 ft rear setbacks, and the SHALLOWEST ROAD FRONTAGE REQUIREMENT IN THE TOWN AT 60 FT alongside T3G's 50 ft. The 60% coverage against a 15,000 sf lot makes this one of the more efficiently buildable districts in Stillwater. Single-family, two-family and manufactured homes are permitted by right and multifamily is a special permit, so the residential range is wide — BUT THE ATTACHED ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT IS NOT PERMITTED HERE, confirmed 2026-07-31: Table 1 omits it for R76, and an unlisted use is an unavailable one. R76 is the only Stillwater district that permits a principal dwelling by right yet withholds the accessory unit, so the ADU route that exists in eight of the eleven districts is closed on Route 76 land. Agricultural use, livestock, timber harvesting, commercial greenhouse and commercial equestrian use are all available, which is what gives this crossroads district its rural-commercial character.) | 0.34 ac | 30 / 15 / 20 ft | 35 ft | No |
| Mixed-Use Business District (1 ACRE minimum lot — a flat lot standard, not a per-dwelling-unit density — with 60% maximum lot coverage, 200 ft required road frontage, and 50 ft front / 35 ft side / 35 ft rear setbacks. MB SHARES WITH R67 THE TALLEST HEIGHT ALLOWANCE IN STILLWATER AT 50 FT, well above the 35 ft of the conventional districts and the 40 ft of the T4 and T5 transects. THIS IS THE MOST RESIDENTIALLY RESTRICTED DISTRICT IN THE TOWN: single-family, two-family and manufactured homes are ALL PROHIBITED and the only residential use is the MULTIFAMILY DWELLING BY SPECIAL PERMIT. There is consequently no attached accessory dwelling unit, and MB is also the ONLY district where the bed-and-breakfast is unavailable — it is a special permit in all ten others. Timber harvesting and accessory uses incidental to the principal use are permitted; home occupation is a special permit. Treat MB as a commercial district that tolerates apartments above or alongside business use, not as a housing district.) | 1 ac | 50 / 35 / 35 ft | 50 ft | No |
| Route 67 Mixed-Use District (a three-rung UTILITY LADDER on density, the steepest in Stillwater: 3 ACRES PER DWELLING UNIT WITHOUT public water and sewer, 2 ACRES with EITHER, and 1 ACRE with BOTH. The recorded 1 acre is the fully serviced best case and the unserviced figure is three times that — on a Route 67 parcel the question of what is at the street is worth more than any other variable. 40% maximum lot coverage, 50 FT HEIGHT (tied with MB for the tallest in Town), 200 ft required road frontage, and 50 ft front / 35 ft side / 35 ft rear setbacks. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. LIKE MB, R67 PROHIBITS THE SINGLE-FAMILY, TWO-FAMILY AND MANUFACTURED HOME and permits only the MULTIFAMILY DWELLING BY SPECIAL PERMIT — so the per-dwelling-unit density above governs an apartment project, not a subdivision, and there is no principal dwelling for an accessory unit to attach to. Bed-and-breakfast, commercial greenhouse or nursery, farmers' market and home occupation are special permits. Read the acreage and the use table together before assuming R67 land is subdividable — it is not.) | 1 ac | 50 / 35 / 35 ft | 50 ft | No |
| T2 Rural Conservation Transect Zone (the rural end of Stillwater's TRANSECT-BASED code — the Town runs a SmartCode-style T2 through T5 gradient alongside four conventional districts, which is unique in Saratoga County and is the single most distinctive thing about this ordinance. T2 sets 2 ACRES PER DWELLING UNIT WITHOUT public water and sewer, falling to 1.5 ACRES with EITHER OR BOTH — note the ladder collapses to two rungs here rather than the three in R67, T3N and T3G-1, so a second utility adds nothing once the first is present. 40% maximum lot coverage, 200 ft required road frontage, 50 ft front / 25 ft side / 30 ft rear setbacks. HEIGHT IS STATED IN THE TRANSECT FORM — '2 STORIES OR 35 FEET' — so the storey count binds independently of the foot measurement and a low-eaved three-storey design fails even under 35 ft. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. T2 is the Town's working-landscape district: agricultural use, livestock, timber harvesting and farm stands by right, and it is one of only two districts permitting AGRICULTURAL TOURISM (by special use permit) alongside farm worker housing. The attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT, which on two-acre rural land is the cheapest second unit available in the Town.) | 1.5 ac | 50 / 25 / 30 ft | 35 ft | As of right |
| T3 Neighborhood Transect Zone (the suburban rung of the transect and THE DISTRICT WHERE UTILITY SERVICE MATTERS MOST IN PROPORTIONAL TERMS: 1 ACRE PER DWELLING UNIT WITHOUT public water and sewer, 20,000 SF with EITHER, and 10,000 SF WITH BOTH — a better than fourfold density increase from the unserviced to the fully serviced case. The recorded 0.23 acre is that 10,000 sf best case. 40% maximum lot coverage, 150 ft required road frontage, 35 ft front / 20 ft side / 30 ft rear setbacks, and height stated as 2 STORIES OR 35 FEET, with the storey count binding independently. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. The residential range is the conventional suburban set — single-family, two-family and manufactured homes by right — but MULTIFAMILY IS NOT PERMITTED IN T3N AT ALL, not even by special permit, which distinguishes it from T3G. Agricultural use, livestock and farm stands remain available by right, keeping the district's edge-of-town character. The attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT. T3N and T3G-1 carry IDENTICAL dimensional standards — see the T3G-1 entry for what separates them.) | 0.23 ac | 35 / 20 / 30 ft | 35 ft | As of right |
| T3 Gateway Transect Zone (the densest of the T3 rungs and a sharp break from its siblings: 6,000 SF PER DWELLING UNIT WITH NO UTILITY LADDER AT ALL — the figure is flat, where T3N and T3G-1 run a three-rung ladder from an acre down to 10,000 sf. At 6,000 sf T3G is denser than the fully serviced T3N standard, and it reaches that without requiring public water or sewer on paper. 60% MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE against 40% in T2, T3N and T3G-1, 50 ft required road frontage — tied with T4 and T5 for the shallowest in Town — and setbacks of 35 ft front / 15 ft side / 10 FT REAR, the shallowest rear yard of any T3 district. Height is 2 stories or 35 feet, with the storey count binding independently. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. T3G is also the only T3 district permitting MULTIFAMILY (by special permit), and it retains agricultural use, livestock, commercial greenhouse and commercial equestrian use by right or special permit — an unusual combination of near-urban density with working-land uses still on the table. The attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT. On the numbers this is the most efficient by-right residential district in Stillwater.) | 0.14 ac | 35 / 15 / 10 ft | 35 ft | As of right |
| T3G-1 Rural Gateway Transect Zone (DIMENSIONALLY IDENTICAL TO T3N IN EVERY FIGURE — 1 acre per dwelling unit without public water and sewer, 20,000 SF with either, 10,000 SF with both, 40% maximum lot coverage, 150 ft required road frontage, 35 ft front / 20 ft side / 30 ft rear, and 2 stories or 35 feet — despite carrying the Gateway name and sitting beside T3G, which is materially denser at a flat 6,000 sf and 60% coverage. THE NAME IS MISLEADING: T3G-1 is a rural-gateway zone that follows the T3N standard, not the T3G one. Anyone reading the district code as a variant of T3G will overstate density by roughly 60% and coverage by half. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. What distinguishes T3G-1 from T3N is the use list rather than the dimensions: T3G-1 permits FARM WORKER HOUSING by special use permit (one of only three districts, with CSR and T2) and permits commercial equestrian use, neither of which T3N allows, while both exclude multifamily entirely. The attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT.) | 0.23 ac | 35 / 20 / 30 ft | 35 ft | As of right |
| T4 Riverfront Corridor Transect Zone (the Hudson riverfront district and the first rung of the transect to reach genuinely urban form: 6,000 SF PER DWELLING UNIT flat with no utility ladder, 60% maximum lot coverage, 50 ft required road frontage, and setbacks of 15 FT FRONT / 15 ft side / 10 ft rear — the front yard drops to a quarter of what T2 requires and half of T3N's. HEIGHT RISES TO 3 STORIES OR 40 FEET, the tallest of the transect zones and above every conventional district except MB and R67 at 50 ft; as elsewhere in the transect the storey count binds independently of the foot measure, so a three-storey building is the ceiling regardless of how far under 40 ft it comes in. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. MULTIFAMILY IS AVAILABLE BY SPECIAL PERMIT alongside single-family, two-family and manufactured homes by right, and the attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT — so T4 offers the widest housing-type range in the Town on the second-smallest lot standard. Farm stands and accessory uses remain permitted, but livestock, timber harvesting and commercial equestrian use drop away at this rung. The Route 4 Corridor Design Guidelines (March 2017, an attachment to Chapter 210) apply along the corridor and will shape façade and frontage treatment beyond these figures.) | 0.14 ac | 15 / 15 / 10 ft | 40 ft | As of right |
| T5 Gateway Transect Zone (the urban core of the transect and the densest district in Stillwater: 5,000 SF PER DWELLING UNIT, 75% MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE — the highest in the Town by fifteen points — 50 ft required road frontage, and 3 stories or 40 feet in height with the storey count binding independently. THE SETBACKS ARE STATED AS RANGES STARTING AT ZERO, WHICH IS THE POINT OF THE DISTRICT: the front setback is '0 TO 10 FEET, OR 15 FEET WITH OUTDOOR DINING OR A PLAZA' and the side is '0 TO 5 FEET', with a 5 ft rear. Both are recorded at their zero floor because zero is genuinely permitted — this is party-wall, build-to-the-sidewalk urbanism, and the upper end of each range is an allowance rather than a requirement. The explicit fifteen-foot option purchased by providing outdoor dining or a plaza is a rare piece of incentive zoning in this county and is worth using deliberately rather than treating as a maximum to avoid. MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN STILLWATER IS STATED PER DWELLING UNIT, NOT PER LOT. Table 2's column reads 'Minimum Lot Size' but nearly every entry is expressed 'per dwelling unit', which makes it a density standard: a two-unit building needs twice the figure. Read it as density and not as the size of a buildable lot. Multifamily is available by special permit and the attached accessory dwelling unit is PERMITTED BY RIGHT, though at 5,000 sf per unit with 75% coverage the multifamily route will usually dominate. Agricultural uses, livestock, farm stands and timber harvesting all drop away entirely at this rung — T5 is the only Stillwater district with no working-land use of any kind.) | 0.11 ac | 0 / 0 / 5 ft | 40 ft | As of right |
ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Stillwater
No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Stillwater. No short-term-rental provision exists in the Town of Stillwater Zoning Law. Chapter 210 was read in full: § 210-7 Definitions contains no short-term rental, vacation rental or transient-occupancy term (the phrase 'short-term' appears only in the nonconforming-use section, describing short-term interruptions to a use during remodelling or seasonal closure), Table 1 Summary of Allowed Uses lists no such use, and there is no registration or licensing requirement anywhere in the chapter. The only enumerated transient-lodging use is the BED-AND-BREAKFAST, which is a SPECIAL PERMIT in ten of the eleven districts — every district except the Mixed-Use Business District, where it is prohibited outright. That near-universal availability by special permit is the Town's stated position on short-stay lodging, and it is a permit-gated, owner-present use rather than a whole-house short-term rental. Recorded 'unknown' rather than 'prohibited' because the Town has never legislated on short-term rental specifically. Absence of a found STR provision is NOT permission. This matters more than usual in Stillwater because of Saratoga Lake and the Hudson riverfront, where short-term rental demand is real and the Town has not yet addressed it — get a written answer from the Building Department at (518) 664-6148 x215 before underwriting short-term rental income, and note that a Saratoga Lake parcel may also sit inside the Saratoga Lake Watershed Overlay District. 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. 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 minimum0.11 ac — an ADU still has to fit the district's lot and setback envelope.
- UtilityNational Grid territory.
- Building dept(518) 664-6148 x215
- Last reviewed2026-07-31
ADU FAQ — Stillwater, NY
Are ADUs allowed in Stillwater, NY?
Town of Stillwater has 11 districts. 8 districts allow ADUs, 3 do not. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department at (518) 664-6148 x215.
Do I need a special permit for an ADU in Stillwater?
No district in Town of Stillwater requires a special-use permit for an ADU - 8 districts allow ADUs, 3 do not. Site-plan review or a building permit may still apply.
Can I use an ADU as a short-term rental in Stillwater?
No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Stillwater. 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 Stillwater
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 Stillwater, priced by size.
More on Stillwater: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · All Saratoga County towns
ADU information for Town of Stillwater is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-07-31) 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 (518) 664-6148 x215 before relying on any answer. Source: Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset, municipalData.js.