ADU Law in California: Building a Granny Flat

On January 1, 2020 California’s Governor Gavin Newsom signed 5 bills regarding the accessory dwelling units or ADUs. Below are the following changes that make building an ADU on your property easier.

Laws are statewide and must be followed in all local jurisdictions.

• You may obtain a permit for two types of ADU’s on a single-family zoned property. One full size ADU and one Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (JADU) maxing to 500 sq. ft.
• You can now have ADUs up to 800 sq. ft without any local discretionary approval.
• Starting in 2020 ADUs do not require a parking space if they are created within existing space in your house such as garage or carport.
• Setbacks for new ADUs have been reduced to 4’ for side and rear yards.
• You can replace the existing structure and replace it with a new ADU that matches its footprint, maintaining existing reduced setbacks.
• You can now convert multi-family structures that are not used as livable spaces such as garages, basements, etc. to ADUs. If you do not have existing spaces to convert, you can build two ground-up detached ADUs.
• There is a five-year moratorium on owner-occupancy requirements.
• Cities will no longer charge impact fees for ADUs under 750 square feet and the impact fees for the ADUs larger will be proportional to its size.
• Cities must now approve or deny ADUs within 60 days.
• HOA (Homeowners Associations) or CC&R (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) cannot prohibit the development of an ADU or JADU.
• You can now legalize under permitted ADUs up to code within 5 years.

Whether it is for rental income, to house family members or a caregiver, or to age in place, there are a lot of things to consider that will effect how you go about budgeting, financing, designing and building your ADU. Contact Louie Lujan with CIMA Law Group for more information.