ADU · Orange County

Can you build an ADU in Tuxedo, NY?

Town of Tuxedo has 15 districts. 12 districts prohibit ADUs, 3 allow them with occupancy restrictions. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:

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What the Tuxedo code says

The only accessory dwelling a house lot can carry in Tuxedo is a standalone caretaker cottage, in C, R-1 and R-2 only, on a lot of at least 5 acres. None is permitted in SR, S-HR, T-TC, NB, GB, TB, CRD, R-3, R-4 or S-HB.

Conditions the code attaches:

The unit must be occupied by a guard or caretaker responsible for managing or providing security to a residential or nonresidential use on the same lot.
Only one accessory dwelling and only one caretaker, guard or watchman may occupy the lot they serve.
The accessory dwelling must comply with the bulk requirements applicable to the principal use and any specific bulk requirements established for this use.
The cottage is expressly standalone, a detached building rather than a unit inside the house.
In R-3 and R-4, two-family, semi-attached and townhouse dwellings need a special use permit, as does multifamily in R-4.
In S-HB, dwellings are allowed only above ground-floor retail, service, office or restaurant uses, by special use permit.

What the Tuxedo 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
Special Recreation	1 ac	25 / 25 / 25 ft	30 ft	No
Conservation	4 ac	100 / 75 / 100 ft	30 ft	Occupancy restricted
Low Density Residential	2 ac	75 / 50 / 75 ft	30 ft	Occupancy restricted
Low-Medium Density Residential	1 ac	50 / 50 / 50 ft	30 ft	Occupancy restricted
Southfields Hamlet Residential	0.23 ac	40 / 20 / 40 ft	30 ft	No
Tuxedo Town Center	0.23 ac	25 / 25 / 25 ft	30 ft	No
Neighborhood Business	1 ac	50 / 50 / 50 ft	30 ft	No
General Business	1 ac	75 / 50 / 75 ft	30 ft	No
Tourism Business	1 ac	75 / 50 / 75 ft	30 ft	No
Research Office	1 ac	75 / 50 / 75 ft	30 ft	No
Light Industrial Office	1 ac	75 / 50 / 75 ft	30 ft	No
Cannabis Retail Dispensary Overlay	0.46 ac	50 / 25 / 50 ft	30 ft	No
Medium Density Residential	0.46 ac	50 / 50 / 50 ft	30 ft	No
Medium-High Density Residential	0.34 ac	50 / 50 / 50 ft	30 ft	No
Southfields Hamlet Business	0.46 ac	50 / 25 / 50 ft	30 ft	No

Special Recreation - No ordinary dwelling is permitted here. The only housing is a dwelling restricted to park employees, on the same lot and yards but with 20% coverage and site plan approval.

Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings
A street frontage of at least 100 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width
A visitor centre may cover 25%
A reservoir and public utilities need a special use permit and are held to 15 ft and one storey

Conservation - A house here needs a special use permit rather than being a use by right, and the figures shown come with that approval. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

Agriculture is permitted by right on at least one acre with at least a hundred and twenty-five feet of width, yards of at least twenty-five feet and at least fifty for the pair of side yards
A standalone caretaker cottage is an accessory use and needs a lot of at least five acres
A street frontage of at least 250 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width
A golf course needs at least sixty acres, a resort lodge at least twenty-five, and commercial outdoor recreation or a commercial stable at least ten each
A resort lodge also needs at least five hundred feet of lot width and a front yard of at least two hundred feet, and may rise forty-five feet

Low Density Residential - A single-family house is permitted by right, and no two-family house or attached dwelling is permitted. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

A street frontage of at least 150 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width
Agriculture needs at least one acre on at least a hundred and twenty-five feet of width, with yards of at least twenty-five feet

Low-Medium Density Residential - A two-family house needs a special use permit and at least an acre and a half, with coverage up to 25% on the same lot width and yards. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

A street frontage of at least 125 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width
Agriculture needs at least one acre on at least a hundred and twenty-five feet of width, with yards of at least twenty-five feet

Southfields Hamlet Residential - The district provides only for a single-family detached dwelling and public utilities, not two-family, attached or multifamily dwellings. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

A street frontage of at least 75 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Tuxedo Town Center - The figures shown are for small shops such as an antique shop, art gallery, bank, bar or office. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

An animal hospital needs at least a full acre on at least two hundred feet of width, with a front yard of at least seventy-five feet
A pre-existing automotive gas station needs at least twenty thousand square feet and is held to 15 ft and one storey
A street frontage of at least 100 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Neighborhood Business - Every use here needs site plan approval, and nearly every commercial use takes the same lot and yards shown. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

A street frontage of at least 125 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

General Business - The figures shown are for ordinary shops and offices, and lot depth varies by use between a hundred and two hundred feet. Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings.

Industrial agriculture needs at least five acres on at least three hundred feet of width, with at least two hundred feet of street frontage
Industrial agriculture needs a front yard of at least a hundred feet and side yards of at least a hundred and fifty feet for the pair
Industrial agriculture may cover 35% and rise to forty feet in two storeys
A bank also needs at least an acre, but may rise to forty feet in two storeys
A street frontage of at least 150 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Tourism Business - The figures shown are for ordinary shops and galleries. Outdoor commercial recreation needs at least fifteen acres on at least three hundred feet of width, with a front yard of at least a hundred feet and at least two hundred and fifty feet of street frontage.

An animal sanctuary needs at least five acres on the same lot shape as outdoor commercial recreation
Indoor commercial recreation needs at least two acres and is held to 10% development coverage
Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings
A street frontage of at least 150 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Research Office - The figures shown are for ordinary offices, and coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings. A street frontage of at least 150 ft applies as a standard separate from lot width.

Industrial agriculture needs at least five acres on at least three hundred feet of width, a front yard of at least a hundred feet and at least two hundred and fifty feet of street frontage
Industrial agriculture may cover 35% and rise to forty feet in two storeys
A building contractor establishment needs at least two acres and a front yard of at least fifty feet, with coverage up to 40%, and is held to 15 ft and a single storey
A building contractor establishment with outdoor storage needs a special use permit

Light Industrial Office - The figures shown are for ordinary offices and light assembly, and coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings. A street frontage of at least 150 ft applies as a standard separate from lot width.

Heavy assembly needs at least four acres and side yards of at least seventy-five feet each and a hundred for the pair, and may rise forty feet in two storeys
Agricultural industry needs at least five acres on at least three hundred feet of width, with a front yard of at least a hundred feet
A building contractor establishment needs at least two acres, with coverage up to 40%, and is held to 15 ft and one storey

Cannabis Retail Dispensary Overlay - This overlay carries a single use, a cannabis retail dispensary, which needs a special use permit and site plan approval. The figures shown apply to that use only; the district beneath governs every other use on the parcel.

Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings
A street frontage of at least 100 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Medium Density Residential - Two-family, semi-attached and townhouse dwellings are possible here, each with a special use permit and site plan approval. A two-family house needs at least thirty thousand square feet on at least a hundred and twenty-five feet of width, with coverage up to 30%.

A semi-attached dwelling needs at least fifteen thousand square feet on at least seventy-five feet of width, with coverage up to 35% and no more than three units to the acre
A townhouse needs at least seven thousand five hundred square feet on at least fifty feet of width, with coverage up to 40% and no more than six units to the acre
Where dwellings are attached, no side yard is required along the shared lot line, and their other side yards must be at least twenty-five feet
Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings
A street frontage of at least 85 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Medium-High Density Residential - Two-family, semi-attached, townhouse and multifamily dwellings and a senior care facility each need a special use permit and site plan approval. A multifamily building needs at least two acres on at least two hundred feet of width and depth, at no more than six units to the acre.

A two-family house needs at least twenty thousand square feet, at two units to the acre
A semi-attached dwelling needs at least twelve thousand five hundred square feet at three to the acre, and a townhouse at least seven thousand five hundred at six to the acre
A senior care facility needs at least three acres, at 60% coverage and eight units to the acre, and may rise forty-five feet and three and a half storeys
Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings; for multifamily it is 50% of the whole site
Where dwellings are attached, no side yard is required along the shared lot line, and their other side yards must be at least twenty-five feet
A street frontage of at least 80 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

Southfields Hamlet Business - A dwelling is possible here only above ground-floor retail and only on a special use permit, and every use needs site plan approval. The figures shown are for small shops such as an antique shop, art gallery, bank, bar, office or craft studio.

A grocery store, hotel, indoor commercial recreation, animal hospital or pre-existing gas station needs at least an acre on at least a hundred and fifty feet of width
Those larger uses need side yards of at least fifty feet each and a hundred for the pair, and coverage drops to 50%
Coverage counts driveways, parking and every other improvement, not just buildings
A street frontage of at least 100 ft applies too, as a standard separate from lot width

ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Tuxedo

Short-term rentals allowed with local rules for Town of Tuxedo. Tuxedo regulates short-term rentals under a local law. Confirm the current permit requirements with the Town building department before listing. 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 minimum0.23–2 ac — an ADU still has to fit the district's lot and setback envelope.
UtilityOrange & Rockland territory.
Zoning codeecode360.com/12917388
Building dept(845) 351-4411

ADU FAQ — Tuxedo, NY

Are ADUs allowed in Tuxedo, NY?

Town of Tuxedo has 15 districts. 12 districts prohibit ADUs, 3 allow them with occupancy restrictions. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department at (845) 351-4411.

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

No district in Town of Tuxedo requires a special-use permit for an ADU - 12 districts prohibit ADUs, 3 allow them with occupancy restrictions. Site-plan review or a building permit may still apply.

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

Short-term rentals allowed with local rules for Town of Tuxedo. 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 Tuxedo

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 Tuxedo, priced by size.

How we know this

Sections analyzed: 98 Attachment 1 (Table I General Use and Bulk Requirements) · § 98-4 · § 98-9
Districts confirmed: 15 of 15 — every mapped district.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-15
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 Tuxedo: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · ADU rules across Orange County · All Orange County towns

ADU information for Town of Tuxedo is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-09-15) 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) 351-4411 before relying on any answer. Source: the Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset.