Brunswick, Maine

Brunswick, Maine Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Rules

City Acceptance Rating: 8/10
last updated 4/13/2020

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What you need to know about Brunswick 

Brunswick allows detached and attached accessory dwelling units by right in all residential districts! Like other towns across New England they refer to backyard homes as detached accessory apartments. Overall, Brunswick’s bylaw is very housing development friendly which means landowners have lots of flexibility with what they can do with their land creating. This means property owners have ample opportunity to create multiple backyard homes (tiny homes) for resale or to rent out.

However, Brunswick has over 30 different zoning districts, each with different rules about what and where you can build. ADUs bypass the density requirements (dwelling units per acre), but must abide by all other dimension rules such as building heights and setbacks.

Type of Permit Required:

Brunswick allows both attached and detached ADUs by right without a “development review”

Other Rules in Brunswick:

  • Backyard Homes (ADUs) can be built on single-family, two-family or commercial properties

  • Only one ADU is allowed is allowed per lot. (multiple backyard homes can be built in accordance with density rules)

  • The front of any building cannot be modified to build the ADU

  • The ADU cannot have more living area than 35% of the current home or 750SF, whichever is greater

  • The ADU must be secondary, incidental and subordinate to the properties primary use

See the full text here: Zoning Ordinance, Section: 3.4.2. (A) Accessory Apartments

See Brunswick's Dimensional Regulations