ADU · Albany County

Can you build an ADU in Green Island, NY?

Village of Green Island has 6 districts. 5 of 6 districts prohibit ADUs. 1 district has incomplete data - verify with the building department at (518) 629-0368. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:

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What the Green Island code says

Green Island has no accessory apartment use, and a lot may carry only one residential building. A two-family house is permitted by right in R1-GI, R2-GI and C-GI, with no owner-occupancy or size condition.

Conditions the code attaches:

A single-family house is permitted by right in the same three districts.
Multifamily dwellings and boardinghouses need a special permit in R2-GI.
I-GI and Rec permit no dwelling of any kind, and mobile homes are not permitted anywhere in the village.
In C-GI a two- or three-story building first used as a residence is limited to one business and one single-family dwelling per floor.
The building department can be reached at (518) 629-0368.

What the Green Island 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
Commercial	0.069 ac	13 / 3 / 15 ft	35 ft	No
Industrial	0.46 ac	40 / 50 / 50 ft	35 ft	No
Planned Development	—	—	—	—
Residential 1	0.069 ac	13 / 3 / 15 ft	35 ft	No
Residential 2	0.069 ac	13 / 3 / 15 ft	35 ft	No
Recreational	—	—	—	No

Commercial - A home is allowed here on the same figures as the R2 district: 1,500 sq ft of land per unit for a one- or two-family, and 1,000 sq ft per unit for a multiple-family building.

The side yard is a pair: 3 ft on one side and 5 ft for the two combined.
The 3,000 sq ft lot minimum has a floor beneath it for an existing undersized lot, an absolute minimum of 2,000 square feet.
A gasoline station breaks the pattern entirely: 20,000 sq ft on a 150 ft by 125 ft lot, with 30 ft front, 30 ft one side, 60 ft both sides and 30 ft rear, and no coverage maximum at all (§ 169-25).

Industrial - The 50 ft side and rear yards carry a footnote saying the yard sizes apply when abutting a residential district, and the schedule prints no other figure for a lot that abuts none, so whether 50 ft is the general requirement or only the abutting one is unsettled.

One row in the schedule covers every industrial use here.

Planned Development - There are no published dimensions for a planned development district. The standards come from the plan approved for that particular development.

Residential 1 - A two-family house needs the same lot as a one-family: one row covers both, at 3,000 sq ft of lot and 1,500 sq ft of land per dwelling unit.

The 3,000 sq ft lot minimum carries a footnote setting an absolute minimum of 2,000 sq ft, so an existing undersized lot has a floor below the district figure.
Multiple-family is not a listed use in this district.
Nonresidential use shares every figure here, differing only in having no land-per-unit rate.

Residential 2 - One- and two-family share the base row at 1,500 sq ft of land per dwelling unit, and a multiple-family building drops to 1,000 sq ft per unit on the same 3,000 sq ft lot.

The 3,000 sq ft lot minimum carries a footnote setting an absolute minimum of 2,000 sq ft, so an existing undersized lot has a floor below the district figure.
Nonresidential use shares the same figures, with no land-per-unit rate.

Recreational - The village's area and bulk schedule publishes no row for this district, so its dimensional standards are not published there.

Public utilities are listed with no figures and referred instead to § 169-26.

ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Green Island

No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Village of Green Island. The village has no local short-term rental law. That is not the same as permission, so check with the village office before counting on a short-term rental here. 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 minimum0.069 ac — an ADU still has to fit the district's lot and setback envelope.
UtilityGreen Island Power Authority territory.
Zoning codeecode360.com/GR1167
Building dept(518) 629-0368

ADU FAQ — Green Island, NY

Are ADUs allowed in Green Island, NY?

Do I need a special permit for an ADU in Green Island?

5 of 6 districts prohibit ADUs, so no permit applies in those. 1 district has incomplete data - verify with the building department at (518) 629-0368.

Can I use an ADU as a short-term rental in Green Island?

No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Village of Green Island. 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.

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What an ADU costs to build in Green Island

Permission is one question and budget is another. An 800 sq ft accessory unit here runs roughly $195k–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 Green Island, priced by size.

How we know this

Sections analyzed: 169 Attachment 1 Schedule of Use Regulations; § 169-19 Use regulations; § 169-37 Limitation on number of dwellings per lot
Districts confirmed: 5 of 6 — 1 not yet analyzed, so this page does not answer for it.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-19
Not covered here: Overlay districts, the zoning map, and any conditions attached to an individual parcel. Size limits and owner-occupancy terms sit in the code section above, not in this summary.

More on Green Island: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · ADU rules across Albany County · All Albany County towns

ADU information for Village of Green Island is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-09-19) 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) 629-0368 before relying on any answer. Source: the Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset.