The Greater Bangor Towns Where We Build ADUs

Veazie broke off from Bangor in 1853 and holds only 3.03 square miles of land along the river. Its land use ordinance has no ADU section, so the town must allow what Maine's ADU law requires, and the Veazie Sewer District runs a lagoon system of its own.

Eddington sits along the Penobscot's east bank, where the Veazie Dam stood until 2013, and someone 65 or older lives in 43.9 percent of its households. Its zoning ordinance dated September 2, 2025 carries two ADU sections, and we confirm with the code officer how they read together for your lot.

Orono is the University of Maine's town, on the Stillwater and the Penobscot rivers, with a median age of 21.8. Main Street from Maplewood Avenue to Pine Street was listed as a National Register historic district in 1977.

Bradley is forest country, with Leonard's Mills, home of the Maine Forest and Logging Museum, and part of the Penobscot Experimental Forest inside its lines. Its 2016 ordinance allows only an in-law apartment inside the home for relatives, a rule older than the state law, so we confirm the current one with the code officer.

Old Town was set off from Orono in 1820, and its built-up streets sit on Marsh Island between the Penobscot and the Stillwater rivers. The city's 2016 draft plan notes no sewer or water off the island, so a unit off it starts with a well and septic.

Milford grew up around the Milford Dam on the Penobscot, and part of the Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge lies in its Conservation District. Its land use ordinance has no ADU section with standards, so the state law decides what the town must allow.

Clifton runs east along Airline Road, Route 9, farther from Bangor in that direction than any town we serve. Section 8.3.1 of its land use ordinance lets an accessory residential unit go in on a code officer permit plus a plumbing permit, and the Planning Board plays no part.

Brewer faces Bangor across the Penobscot, tied to it by three bridges, and in the 1800s it lived on brick-making and shipbuilding, with ice harvesting besides. Section 402 of its Land Use Code allows one ADU on a single-family lot, though not inside an existing garage or shed.

Hampden's zoning ordinance, in effect from March 16, 2026, permits an ADU outright in every district where a one-family house is the principal use. Work inside the Upper Corner Historic District must first be found appropriate by the Historic Preservation Commission, and only then can a building permit follow.

Holden's Fields Pond spreads over 191 acres, and owners live in 95.0 percent of the town's occupied homes. Section 535 of its zoning ordinance allows a single accessory apartment on a lot, with a code officer permit, in most of the town's zones, and the town's rule lets it be rented.

Orrington was incorporated in 1788 on the Penobscot's estuary, where shipping and shipbuilding came first, along with ice harvesting. Only 30 Orrington accounts drain to Brewer's treatment plant, so most units there start from a septic design.

Dedham takes in Phillips Lake and Green Lake, and the summer village of Lucerne-in-Maine on Phillips Lake keeps its own ordinance and boards. Nothing in the town's 2009 ordinance addresses ADUs, so the state law sets the floor, and lots must meet the state's subsurface wastewater rules.

Shipbuilding carried Winterport until the Panic of 1857, and the National Register took in its Main Street historic district in 1975. Its Lot Dimension Ordinance of June 11, 2026 leaves ADUs to the state law and spares them the extra lot area other added units need.

Frankfort was incorporated in 1789 on the west bank of the Penobscot, with Swan Lake and the granite of Mount Waldo inside its lines. No zoning or ADU ordinance is posted by the town, and the state set its shoreland rules for it in 1994.

Hermon's housing is young, with a median year built of 2000 and only 4.1 percent of units from 1939 or earlier. The town has been writing its own ADU ordinance after extending a moratorium in April 2026, so we check what is in force with the code office on the day we apply.

Glenburn wraps around part of Pushaw Lake, where lots from the late-1980s land boom were cut down to 35 by 100 feet and many took summer camps. Its land use ordinance allows an in-law apartment attached to the house by code officer permit, an older rule than the state law, which we confirm with the town.

Levant was settled before 1786 for the pine forests and the water power of Black Stream, and its Land Use Ordinance sets a 1.5 acre minimum lot. Nothing in its ordinance, amended last in 2007, addresses ADUs, so the state law sets what the town must allow.

Kenduskeag sits on the banks of the Kenduskeag Stream, home of the canoe race named for it, and split from Levant in 1852. The town posts no land use ordinance online, and its building permit form ties the number of bedrooms to the septic design.

Newburgh requires a 2-acre lot with 200 feet of frontage in each of its districts, so its lots are rural by rule. Its 2024 Land Use Ordinance lists an ADU among the uses a code officer can permit in all three districts, with the Planning Board left out of it.

Carmel's center is the meeting point of U.S. Route 2, Route 100 and Route 69, with Interstate 95 crossing the south of town. Its 2022 ADU section limits the unit to the owner's family under a five-year permit, a rule older than the state law, which we confirm with the town before planning.

Hudson reaches Pushaw Lake and Little Pushaw Pond, and 20.9 percent of its housing units are seasonal or recreational homes. Its 1993 ordinance defines an in-law apartment and a temporary elder cottage for relatives, so the state law sets the floor and we confirm the rule with the code officer.