ADU · Westchester County

Can you build an ADU in Buchanan, NY?

Village of Buchanan has 10 districts. 8 districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions, 2 do not. Check your address to confirm the district that applies to your parcel:

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What the Buchanan code says

The Planning Board may grant a special permit for an accessory apartment in a single-family detached house in the R-7.5, R-10, R-15, R-20, R-40, C-1 and C-2 districts (§ 211-22B(1)). The owner must live in the house or the apartment as a primary residence.

Conditions the code attaches:

The owner-applicant must have occupied the dwelling for at least three years before applying (§ 211-22C(1)).
The apartment is limited to two occupants (§ 211-22B(2)(c)) and one bedroom (§ 211-22C(2)(a)).
The apartment must be 300 to 600 sq ft and never more than 33% of the gross floor area of the building it is in, and the building must be at least 10 years old.
No accessory apartment is permitted in an accessory building, so a detached unit is not available.
No accessory apartment is allowed on a lot where the dwelling also has boarding or a home occupation as an accessory use.
No Village board may vary these conditions in connection with the special permit (§ 211-22B(5)(b)).

What the Buchanan 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
Planned Industrial District	1.84 ac	75 / 50 / 100 ft	35 ft	No
Residential District	0.46 ac	30 / 15 / 30 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Residential District	0.92 ac	30 / 20 / 50 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Residential District	0.23 ac	30 / 10 / 30 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Residential District	0.34 ac	30 / 10 / 30 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Residential District	0.17 ac	30 / 10 / 30 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Neighborhood Commercial District	0.23 ac	30 / 5 / 10 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Overlay Zoning District	0.46 ac	—	40 ft	Occupancy restricted
General Commercial District	0.46 ac	30 / 5 / 10 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
Light Industrial District	0.46 ac	50 / 25 / 25 ft	35 ft	No

Planned Industrial District - The rear yard rises to 125 ft where the lot abuts a residential district (§ 211-15).

Residential District - The rear yard is 25% of lot depth, capped at 30 ft (§ 211-15).

A place of worship, a parish house or rectory, or a use of the Village is held to the R-40 district standards instead: a lot of at least 40,000 square feet, 125 ft of width and 200 ft of depth.
Those uses also owe side yards of 20 ft each and 50 ft together, a 50 ft rear yard, and total coverage capped at 35%.
The coverage cap is not a building footprint cap: it counts driveways, parking areas, patios, decks, paved walkways and swimming pools as well (§ 211-5).
No building permit is issued for a lot that is not served by both the public water and the public sewer system (§ 211-18D).
The lot must also have at least 100 ft of frontage at the street line, the same as the lot width (§ 211-15).
In a major subdivision the lot yield is net parcel area divided by the district minimum, after deducting wetlands and half their buffers, the flood boundary and slopes steeper than 15%.

Residential District - The rear yard is 25% of lot depth, capped at 50 ft (§ 211-15), so a shallower nonconforming lot owes proportionally less.

Residential District, Residential District - The rear yard is 25% of lot depth, capped at 30 ft (§ 211-15), so a lot at the district's 100 ft minimum depth owes 25 ft and the cap binds only on deeper lots.

A place of worship, a parish house or rectory, or a use of the Village is held to the R-40 district standards instead: a lot of at least 40,000 square feet, 125 ft of width and 200 ft of depth.
Those uses also owe side yards of 20 ft each and 50 ft together, a 50 ft rear yard, and total coverage capped at 35%.
The coverage cap is not a building footprint cap: it counts driveways, parking areas, patios, decks, paved walkways and swimming pools as well (§ 211-5).
No building permit is issued for a lot that is not served by both the public water and the public sewer system (§ 211-18D).
The lot must also have at least 75 ft of frontage at the street line, the same as the lot width (§ 211-15).
In a major subdivision the lot yield is net parcel area divided by the district minimum, after deducting wetlands and half their buffers, the flood boundary and slopes steeper than 15%.

Residential District - The rear yard is 25% of lot depth, capped at 30 ft (§ 211-15), which is what a lot at the district's 120 ft minimum depth owes.

A place of worship, a parish house or rectory, or a use of the Village is held to the R-40 district standards instead: a lot of at least 40,000 square feet, 125 ft of width and 200 ft of depth.
Those uses also owe side yards of 20 ft each and 50 ft together, a 50 ft rear yard, and total coverage capped at 35%.
The coverage cap is not a building footprint cap: it counts driveways, parking areas, patios, decks, paved walkways and swimming pools as well (§ 211-5).
No building permit is issued for a lot that is not served by both the public water and the public sewer system (§ 211-18D).
The lot must also have at least 80 ft of frontage at the street line, the same as the lot width (§ 211-15).
In a major subdivision the lot yield is net parcel area divided by the district minimum, after deducting wetlands and half their buffers, the flood boundary and slopes steeper than 15%.

Neighborhood Commercial District - Where the lot abuts a residential district, the side yard rises to 20 ft and the rear yard becomes that residential district's rear yard (§ 211-15).

Dwelling units come only in back of or over a commercial establishment, at up to four units per acre and at least 750 square feet each, with at most half the total floor area residential.
By special permit a multifamily or two-family building may go on a parcel of at least 40,000 square feet that adjoins a residentially zoned district.
That permit allows no more than five dwelling units per 40,000 square feet of parcel, each unit at least 750 square feet.
The coverage cap is not a building footprint cap: it counts driveways, parking areas, patios, decks, paved walkways and swimming pools as well (§ 211-5).
No building permit is issued for a lot that is not served by both the public water and the public sewer system (§ 211-18D).
Yard screening is required within 15 ft of the boundary where a commercial use, or its off-street parking lot, abuts a residential use (§ 211-21A).

Overlay Zoning District - This is an overlay rather than a base district: every bulk standard is the same as in the underlying C-1 or C-2 district, so the yards are those of whichever district the parcel sits in (§ 211-15).

Confirm the parcel's underlying district with the building department.

General Commercial District - Where the lot abuts a residential district, the side yard rises to 20 ft and the rear yard becomes that residential district's rear yard (§ 211-15).

Dwelling units come only in back of or over a commercial establishment, at up to four units per acre and at least 750 square feet each, with at most half the total floor area residential.
The multifamily and two-family special permit route that C-1 offers is not carried here (§ 211-10).
The coverage cap is not a building footprint cap: it counts driveways, parking areas, patios, decks, paved walkways and swimming pools as well (§ 211-5).
No building permit is issued for a lot that is not served by both the public water and the public sewer system (§ 211-18D).
The lot must also have at least 100 ft of frontage at the street line, the same as the lot width (§ 211-15).
Yard screening is required within 15 ft of the boundary where a commercial use, or its off-street parking lot, abuts a residential use (§ 211-21A).

Light Industrial District - The rear yard rises to 50 ft where the lot abuts a residential district (§ 211-15).

ADUs vs. short-term rentals in Buchanan

No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission for Village of Buchanan. The Village of Buchanan has no local short-term rental law, and that is not the same as permission. Confirm with the building department before counting on the use. 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 minimum0.17–0.92 ac — an ADU still has to fit the district's lot and setback envelope.
UtilityCon Edison territory.
Zoning codeecode360.com/BU0230
Building dept(914) 293-8395

ADU FAQ — Buchanan, NY

Are ADUs allowed in Buchanan, NY?

Village of Buchanan has 10 districts. 8 districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions, 2 do not. Check your address with the free ADU checker, or confirm with the building department at (914) 293-8395.

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

No district in Village of Buchanan requires a special-use permit for an ADU - 8 districts allow ADUs with occupancy restrictions, 2 do not. Site-plan review or a building permit may still apply.

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

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

Permission is one question and budget is another. An 800 sq ft accessory unit here runs roughly $235k–310k 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 Buchanan, priced by size.

How we know this

Zoning code: ecode360.com/BU0230
Districts confirmed: 10 of 10 — every mapped district.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-27
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 Buchanan: Full zoning for new construction · ADU build cost · House build cost · ADU rules across Westchester County · All Westchester County towns

ADU information for Village of Buchanan is compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-09-27) 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 (914) 293-8395 before relying on any answer. Source: the Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset.