ADU · Greene County

Can you build an ADU in Greenville, NY?

Town of Greenville has 5 districts. All districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:

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What the Greenville code says

Greenville allows either an accessory apartment or an ECHO unit, though not both, at a single-family dwelling in every district. The unit cannot produce income: the owner may at no time receive rent for it.

Conditions the code attaches:

Occupancy is limited to family members related by blood, marriage or adoption, or a person providing nursing or domiciliary care to the owner in exchange for lodging (§ 5).
The owner must occupy the principal unit as a permanent residence for at least eight months of the year.
Size runs from a minimum of 300 square feet to a maximum of 700 square feet excluding garage area, with no more than two bedrooms.
The apartment may be attached or detached and may be built into an existing or a new residence, and it must connect to the principal dwelling's utilities.
It must meet the full front, side and rear setbacks for a principal dwelling in the district and may sit no closer to the front lot line than the principal dwelling.
An ECHO unit is a factory-built, HUD-certified unit under 1,000 square feet for temporary use by elderly or disabled occupants. In GC and HC, a single-family dwelling must be present or permitted.

What the Greenville 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
Hamlet District	1 ac	0 / 0 / 25 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Low-Density Residential District	2 ac	35 / 25 / 25 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Rural Residential/Open Space District	5 ac	50 / 50 / 75 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
General Commercial District	0.5 ac	35 / 10 / 25 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Highway Commercial District	1 ac	35 / 15 / 25 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted

Hamlet District - The 1 acre minimum is for a lot without both sewer and water; with both it is 0.5 acre. The front yard is a build-to range of 0 to 25 feet or the block average, and the side yard may be zero or the average of the abutting structures on both sides.

On a corner lot every side that abuts a street is a front yard, and the owner decides at building permit stage which of the remaining yards is the side yard and which the rear.
Schedule B publishes no lot coverage limit for any district in this town.
An unattached accessory structure must stand at least 12 feet from the principal building.
A detached accessory structure is allowed inside a required rear or side yard.

Low-Density Residential District - Schedule B publishes no lot coverage limit for this district. On a corner lot every side that abuts a street counts as a front yard, which can leave a corner parcel with far less buildable area than the figures suggest.

On a corner lot the owner decides at building permit stage which of the remaining yards is the required side yard and which the required rear yard.
An unattached accessory structure must stand at least 12 feet from the principal building.
A detached accessory structure is allowed inside a required rear or side yard.

Rural Residential/Open Space District - The side yard here is 50 feet, the same as the front, and the rear yard 75 feet. Schedule B publishes no lot coverage limit, and on a corner lot every side that abuts a street counts as a front yard.

On a corner lot the owner decides at building permit stage which of the remaining yards is the required side yard and which the required rear yard.
An unattached accessory structure must stand at least 12 feet from the principal building.
A detached accessory structure is allowed inside a required rear or side yard.

General Commercial District - The 0.5 acre minimum applies whether or not the lot has sewer and water. Schedule B publishes no lot coverage limit, and on a corner lot every side that abuts a street counts as a front yard.

On a corner lot the owner decides at building permit stage which of the remaining yards is the required side yard and which the required rear yard.
An unattached accessory structure must stand at least 12 feet from the principal building.
A detached accessory structure is allowed inside a required rear or side yard.

Highway Commercial District - The 1 acre minimum applies whether or not the lot has sewer and water. Schedule B publishes no lot coverage limit, and on a corner lot every side that abuts a street counts as a front yard.

On a corner lot the owner decides at building permit stage which of the remaining yards is the required side yard and which the required rear yard.
An unattached accessory structure must stand at least 12 feet from the principal building.
A detached accessory structure is allowed inside a required rear or side yard.

ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Greenville

No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Greenville. Greenville has no dedicated short-term rental law as of June 2026, and its 2024 zoning update, Local Law No. 2-2024, did not add a specific short-term rental permit. That is not the same as permission, so confirm with code enforcement first. 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 minimum1–5 ac — an ADU still has to fit the district's lot and setback envelope.
UtilityCentral Hudson territory.
Zoning codeecode360.com/attachment/301493/Zoning%20Law%202015-09-21.pdf
Building dept(518) 966-5055

ADU FAQ — Greenville, NY

Are ADUs allowed in Greenville, NY?

Town of Greenville has 5 districts. All districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department at (518) 966-5055.

Do I need a special permit for an ADU in Greenville?

No district in Town of Greenville requires a special-use permit for an ADU - 5 districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions. Site-plan review or a building permit may still apply.

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

No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Town of Greenville. 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.

Run the free ADU check for your parcel →

What an ADU costs to build in Greenville

Permission is one question and budget is another. An 800 sq ft accessory unit here runs roughly $195k–255k 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 Greenville, priced by size.

How we know this

Sections analyzed: Town of Greenville Zoning Law (adopted 9/21/15), Accessory Apartments and ECHO Housing Units §§ 1-8, particularly § 2 Location
Districts confirmed: 5 of 5 — every mapped district.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-05
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 Greenville: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · ADU rules across Greene County · All Greene County towns

ADU information for Town of Greenville is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-10-05) 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) 966-5055 before relying on any answer. Source: the Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset.