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ADU · Orange County

Can you build an ADU in Newburgh, NY?

City of Newburgh has 12 districts. 8 districts prohibit ADUs, 3 allow them, 1 requires a special-use permit. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:

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What the Newburgh code says

An accessory apartment is permitted as an accessory use in R-LOW, R-MED and R-HIGH, inside a one-family house or in a separate accessory structure on the same lot. It is prohibited in C, IND, NCO, BC, CDD, DN, WG and PWD.

Conditions the code attaches:

What the Newburgh 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
Single-Family Residential 0.057 ac 15 / 10 / 20 ft 40 ft Special permit
Low-Density Residential 0.057 ac 15 / 10 / 20 ft 40 ft As of right
Medium-Density Residential 0.057 ac 10 / 5 / 20 ft 40 ft As of right
High-Density Residential 0.046 ac 0 / 5 / 20 ft 45 ft As of right
Commercial District — 0 / 0 / 0 ft 45 ft No
Industrial District — 0 / 0 / 0 ft 45 ft No
Neighborhood Commercial Overlay — 0 / 0 / 0 ft 45 ft No
Broadway Corridor District — 0 / 0 / 20 ft 65 ft No
Conservation Development District — — 50 ft No
Downtown Neighborhood — 0 / 0 / 20 ft 75 ft No
Waterfront Gateway — 0 / 0 / 20 ft 95 ft No
Planned Waterfront — 0 / - / - ft 65 ft No

Single-Family Residential - A single-family house is the only use permitted in this district.

  • A detached house may take less than the ten-foot side yard on one side if the adjacent use provides a ten-foot yard along the same lot line and the house keeps a full ten feet on its other side.

Low-Density Residential - A row or attached townhouse takes the same lot with shallower yards and forty percent coverage.

  • A boardinghouse needs a special use permit and a lot of at least thirty-five hundred square feet, thirty feet of width and eighty feet of depth.
  • A community centre or house of worship needs a lot of at least five thousand square feet and forty-five feet of width, with coverage up to fifty percent.
  • A cottage industry needs a lot of at least twenty-five hundred square feet, with coverage up to sixty percent and height up to forty-five feet.
  • A cemetery takes a lot of at least forty thousand square feet.
  • A detached dwelling may take less than the ten-foot side yard on one side if the adjacent use provides ten feet along the same line and the dwelling keeps ten feet on the other.

Medium-Density Residential - An apartment house is measured per dwelling unit rather than by lot area, and is capped at ten units to a lot.

  • Where a dwelling shares a common wall meeting the building and construction codes, no side yard is required.
  • A live/work unit takes the same lot at forty percent coverage.
  • A boardinghouse needs a lot of at least thirty-five hundred square feet and thirty feet of width.

High-Density Residential - An apartment house needs at least five hundred square feet per dwelling unit and may reach six storeys and sixty feet.

  • A two-, three- or four-family dwelling inside a preexisting building may reach four storeys and forty-five feet.
  • A government building or public library may cover seventy percent of the lot but is held to two and a half storeys and thirty-five feet.
  • Where a dwelling shares a common wall meeting the building code, no side yard is required.

Commercial District, Industrial District, Neighborhood Commercial Overlay - A gasoline station, car wash, service and repair shop or boat repair yard must keep at least ten feet to the front, five to each side and ten to the rear, and is held to one or two storeys and fifteen or twenty-five feet.

  • Brewing of malt beverages or spirits primarily for on-site consumption must keep at least ten feet on every side, with coverage up to seventy percent.
  • A cemetery needs at least forty thousand square feet.

Broadway Corridor District - Height is a range with a floor as well as a ceiling: a building must reach at least three storeys and thirty-five feet. The district also requires at least eighty percent frontage occupancy and sets no lot coverage cap.

  • In the TOD subdistrict south of Broadway between Lake and West Streets the range is four to six storeys and forty-five to seventy-five feet, the sixth storey only if set back fifteen feet.
  • A front setback of up to ten feet is allowed only where the front yard has no parking and is landscaped and used as a plaza, pocket park, outdoor dining area or public art.
  • A lot a hundred feet wide or more may have one side yard of twelve feet, but is not required to.
  • The rear setback drops to five feet where the rear yard is dedicated to the City as public parking, and lots fronting on Broadway or within the TOD subdistrict need none.
  • At least ten percent of the lot must be landscaped, except on lots fronting on Broadway or south of Broadway between West Street and Lake Street.
  • A building must be of the shopfront or civic building type, with midrise buildings also allowed in parts of the district (§ 300-136C(1)).

Conservation Development District - Under § 300-33 the bulk and area requirements here are flexible in exchange for conserving environmental resources, with the possibility of more intensive development where the district's conservation goals are met.

Downtown Neighborhood - Height has a floor as well as a ceiling: a shopfront or midrise building must reach at least three storeys and thirty-five feet, and a rowhouse or compact detached house runs from two storeys and twenty-five feet to four storeys and fifty feet.

  • At least eighty percent of the lot frontage must be built to the line.
  • At least fifteen percent of the lot must be landscaped.
  • A front setback of up to ten feet needs a parking-free yard landscaped as a plaza, pocket park, outdoor dining area or public art, or, for a house, an entrance feature connecting it to the sidewalk.
  • A compact detached house may have two side yards totalling no more than twenty feet, none over fifteen feet.
  • A rowhouse may have one side yard of between five and twelve feet.
  • A lot a hundred feet wide or more may have one side yard of twelve feet but is not required to.

Waterfront Gateway - A shopfront or midrise building must reach at least five storeys and fifty feet, so a low building does not comply here; a rowhouse runs from three storeys and thirty feet to four storeys and fifty feet.

  • At least eighty percent of the lot frontage must be built to the line.
  • At least ten percent of the lot must be landscaped.
  • A front setback of up to ten feet needs a parking-free yard landscaped as a plaza, pocket park, outdoor dining area or public art, or, for a house, an entrance feature connecting it to the sidewalk.
  • A lot a hundred feet wide or more may have one side yard of twelve feet but is not required to, and a rowhouse may have one side yard of between five and twelve feet.

Planned Waterfront - A Hudson River setback of at least forty feet is measured landward from every point along the shoreline, bulkhead or stabilized shore, and no swimming pool, parking, balcony or porch may stand in it.

  • A water-dependent use or structure may stand in the river setback with Planning Board approval.
  • No side yard is required, but one that is provided must be at least eight feet and no more than fifteen.
  • A shopfront or midrise building must reach at least five storeys and fifty feet, and a rowhouse runs from two storeys and twenty-five feet to four storeys and fifty feet.
  • At least eighty percent of the lot frontage must be built to the line.
  • At least fifteen percent of the lot must be landscaped.
  • A front setback of up to ten feet needs a parking-free yard landscaped as a plaza, pocket park, outdoor dining area or public art, or, for a house, an entrance feature connecting it to the sidewalk.

ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Newburgh

Short-term rentals allowed with local rules for City of Newburgh. Short-term in-home lodging is a regulated accessory use in the City of Newburgh's residential districts only, and is not permitted in the commercial and industrial base districts. 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

ADU FAQ — Newburgh, NY

Are ADUs allowed in Newburgh, NY?

City of Newburgh has 12 districts. 8 districts prohibit ADUs, 3 allow them, 1 requires a special-use permit. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department at (845) 569-7400.

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

It depends on the district: 1 of 12 require a special-use permit, the rest do not. Check the district that applies to your parcel before you design.

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

Short-term rentals allowed with local rules for City of Newburgh. 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 Newburgh

Permission is one question and budget is another. An 800 sq ft accessory unit here runs roughly $205k–270k 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 Newburgh, priced by size.

How we know this

Sections analyzed
§ 300-31 (Schedule of Use Regulations) · § 300-6B · § 300-129
Districts confirmed
12 of 12 — every mapped district.
Last reviewed
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.

ADU information for City of Newburgh is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-07-08) 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 (845) 569-7400 before relying on any answer. Source: the Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset.

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