North Yarmouth, Maine

North Yarmouth, Maine Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Rules

City Acceptance Rating:8/10

last updated 9/24/2020

What you need to know 

North Yarmouth has excellent rules for accessory dwelling units with few restrictions.

The town does limit the ADU to 1 bedroom but also has a generous total living area allotment for average sized homes. This means there is likely flexibility in creating an ADU with multiple rooms and only labeling one a bedroom. A bedroom is usually defined by having a clothes closet.

North Yarmouth refers to “Accessory Dwelling Units” as “Accessory Apartments”.

Type of Permit Required:

All types of ADUs only require a building permit and approval by the Code Enforcement Officer.

ADU Rules in North Yarmouth:

  • The ADU cannot have more than 1 bedroom

  • The ADU’s living area must not be larger than 40% of the primary home’s homes living area (excluding the basement)

  • The lot must be in compliance with the minimum lot requirement for its zoning district OR in a subdivision which received approval for smaller lots (open space development)

  • The primary home or the ADU must be owner-occupied

  • Only one ADU can be added to a single-family lot

  • ADUs are exempt from the requirements detailed in section 3.3E Residential Growth Limitation

See the full text here: SECTION 11.1 ACCESSORY APARTMENTS

See North Yarmouth’s full zoning bylaw.