Read this first
The rules below are a homeowner-friendly summary, not an official zoning determination. Eligibility, fees, and requirements are set by the City of Woodstock and can change. The fastest way to know where your lot stands is to run it through our address checker, which queries the City's own GIS.
1. You must be inside the City of Woodstock
This is the rule that catches the most people. The Pre-Approved ADU Program applies to parcels inside the City of Woodstock limits. A great many addresses with a "Woodstock, GA" mailing address actually sit in unincorporated Cherokee County — a separate jurisdiction with its own, different rules.
You can't tell from the ZIP code or the mailing address alone. Our tool checks your parcel against the City of Woodstock's GIS to confirm jurisdiction before you spend a dollar. Check your address →
2. One home on the lot must be owner-occupied
Woodstock allows an ADU as a genuine second home on your property, on one condition: one of the two homes must be owner-occupied. That gives you flexibility:
- Live in your main house and use the ADU for family or rental income, or
- Move into the ADU (downsizing) and rent out the main house.
What you can't do is own the property, live elsewhere, and rent out both units. The owner has to live in one of them.
3. The size rule: 40% of your main home — or 850 sq ft, whichever is greater
Woodstock's size rule has two parts. An ADU can be up to 40% of your main home's floor area — and if your home is under 2,125 sq ft, you can build up to 850 sq ft anyway. In plain terms, your allowed ADU size is whichever number is greater. That's great news for smaller homes: the three compact plans all fit under the 850 sq ft allowance, so they work with any size main house. Only the two largest plans need a bigger primary home:
| Plan | ADU size | Approx. minimum main home |
|---|---|---|
| The Carriage | 631 sq ft | Any size — no minimum |
| The Cottage | 660 sq ft | Any size — no minimum |
| The Bungalow | 684 sq ft | Any size — no minimum |
| The Homestead | 1,032 sq ft | ~2,580 sq ft |
| The Overlook | 1,064 sq ft | ~2,660 sq ft |
The eligibility tool reads your home's size and shows only the plans you actually qualify for — no guesswork.
4. Your lot needs room in the right place
Beyond size, the City looks at where the ADU sits: setbacks from property lines, buildable area behind or beside the main house, access, and how the unit connects to utilities. Exact setback distances depend on your zoning district, so we confirm them for your parcel rather than quoting a one-size-fits-all number. In practice, the question is simply: is there a code-compliant spot for the cottage on your lot? — which the site review answers.
5. Renting: yes, with the owner-occupancy rule
Long-term renting of the ADU (or the main house) is allowed as long as the owner lives in one of the two. Short-term / nightly rentals are treated differently and are subject to the City's current short-term-rental policy, so don't bank on Airbnb-style income without confirming the latest rules first.
6. How the Pre-Approved Program changes the process
Woodstock pre-approved five ADU plans so homeowners don't have to design and engineer one from scratch. Because the plans already cleared structural, architectural, and zoning review, the City's six-step process is shorter and more predictable:
| Step | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eligibility | Confirm city limits, zoning, and space | You + us |
| 2. Choose a plan | Pick one of the five pre-approved designs | You |
| 3. Site plan (HLP) | Draw the required House Location Plan | We handle it |
| 4. Permit & review | Submit through Planning & Building | We handle it |
| 5. Build | Construct to the approved plans | We handle it |
| 6. Inspect & move in | Clear final inspections & get the CO | We handle it |