Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUS)

The City of Cleveland Heights and the Department of Planning, Neighborhoods & Development are researching Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) as an approach to allow our neighborhoods to be resilient for the modern age. So far, this research has included a study completed by Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (July 2024) and a design competition funded by AARP (December 2024). The Department has been spending 2025 working with the County Planning Commission on potential zoning changes – changes that would be necessary to allow ADUs in Cleveland Heights. In order to enhance our understanding of what is necessary from a zoning and construction perspective, the City retained Kronberg Urbanists + Architects who are national experts on ADUs. As part of their collaboration with the City, Kronberg Urbanists + Architects provided an educational presentation to staff on ADUs.

Prior to the introduction of any formal zoning text amendments to possibly permit ADUs, the Department is gathering informal community input. Please see the sections below for a survey to access community preferences around the scale and placement of ADUs, an initial draft of the zoning text amendments, and the informational presentation from Kronberg Urbanists + Architects. Make sure to check back with this webpage for further updates, including in person meetings that the Department is planning for the Fall of 2025.

AARP Types of Dwelling Units
Types of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Source: AARP.


What is an ADU

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a self-contained residential unit that is located on the same lot as an existing home. As the term "accessory" implies, ADUs are designed to be smaller than the main home on the lot. A historic precedent to ADUs is the carriage house, which housed workers for larger homes and are still present in Cleveland Heights.

The Accessory Dwelling Unit study, completed by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission for Cleveland Heights, considered various models from across the country and found that ADUs can have several benefits including aging in place, wealth building, affordable housing, sustainability and land conservation.

In the recorded presentation below, Eric Kronberg of Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, highlighted how ADUs provide “missing middle” housing and can help cities adapt to aging populations. The slides from the presentation are also available.

ADU Zoning Survey

Please take the ADU Zoning Survey and help shape the potential updates to the zoning code for ADUs! The survey should only take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. The deadline for the survey has been extended to November 30th.

Initial Draft Zoning Text Amendments

Working with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, potential zoning text amendments were drafted that would allow ADUs. The draft zoning text amendments were first reviewed internally by the Department and then received a peer review from Kronberg Urbanists + Architects. The ADU Zoning Survey will be utilized to inform the finalization of a formal zoning text amendment proposal. Feel free to review the current initial draft zoning text amendments. Please send any comments and questions to planning@clevelandheights.gov. A schedule of community engagement opportunities will be posted when the dates and locations are finalized.

ADU Community Pop-ups

Staff will be hosting several “pop-up” community engagement events throughout October and November to raise awareness about ADUs, answer questions, and hear feedback on the proposed zoning text amendments. Paper versions of the ADU Zoning Survey will also be available in those sessions.

Pop-up dates and locations:

  • Saturday, October 18th, 3:00-7:00PM. Heights Halloween Festival (Lee Rd Business District)
  • Wednesday, October 22nd, 11:00AM-2PM, Grand Coffee (1875 S. Taylor Rd)
  • Thursday, October 30th, 12:00-4:00PM, Community Center (1 Monticello Blvd)
  • Wednesday, November 12th, 3:00PM-7:00PM, Grocery Outlet (12438 Cedar Rd)
  • Friday, November 14th, 8:00AM-12:00PM, Coventry Rd Phoenix (1793 Coventry Rd)
  • Friday, November 21st, 10:00AM-2:00PM, Noble Rd Library (2800 Noble Rd)
  • Saturday, November 22nd, 10:00AM-2:00PM, Community Center (1 Monticello Blvd)
ADU Pop-up Event
Staff will be hosting several “pop-up” community engagement events throughout October and November to raise awareness about ADUs, answer questions, and hear feedback on the proposed zoning text amendments.

Code Testing

Prior to the introduction of any formal zoning text amendments, the code will be tested on actual example sites within Cleveland Heights. Stay tuned for updated information.

The Cleveland Heights ADU Design Competition

The City of Cleveland Heights, in collaboration with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) are excited to announce an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Design Competition in 2024. This initiative is being funded by an AARP Livable Communities Challenge grant.

ADU Ceremony Winners
On the December 4, 2024, the five winners of the ADU Design Competition were announced at a showcase and were celebrated along with all of the participants who submitted designs.

The City of Cleveland Heights, in collaboration with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) launched the Cleveland Heights Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Design Competition in 2024. The competition was funded by a $15,000 AARP Livable Communities Challenge grant. On the December 4, 2024, the five winners of the ADU Design Competition were announced at a showcase and were celebrated along with all of the participants who submitted designs. The competition sought to inspire creativity and imagine what ADUs could look like in Cleveland Heights.

The competition has two categories:

  1. A juried competition for design professionals at all levels—from interns to licensed architects—who meet the necessary requirements, and 
  2. A “People’s Choice” category for Cleveland Heights residents who may not be architects or designers. 

The winners of the Jury Competition were:

  • Chuck Miller, C2, Charles C Miller, Architect LLC for submission number 006 titled:  Bramble        
  • The team of Conner Deck, Jon Novak, and Tommy Chesnes, Onyx Creative for submission number 013 titled: ADÜ        
  • The team of Phillip Talley and Jamie List, City Architecture for submission 016 titled: Contemporary Carriage      

The People Choice Awards go to:

  • Cade McCue a student at Kent State University for submission number 001 titled:  Universal Dwelling: Cleveland Heights ADU Competition People's Choice
  • Tristen Ruffin-Williams a student at Hawken School for submission number 028 titled: ADU Design Competition by TRW People's Choice

In total, there were 28 original ADU designs that were part of the competition. View the winning submissions and all other designs. View and download the guidelines for competition complete design guidelines and a question & answer document . 

Pre-Approved Designs

In order to make ADUs more attainable, the intent is to transform the ADU Design Competition winning concepts into designs that are “pre-approved” by the Architectural Board of Review (ABR). This would allow an individual that utilizes one of the pre-approved designs to simply undergo an administrative design review as part of the permitting process. This should cut down on cost and time. Stay tuned for more information. 

Quick Links

Below is a summary of the links mentioned on this page and related to ADUs: