ADUs in Your Association: An Inevitable Outcome
Zalman Robles, Esq. Roseman Law, APC
Sacramento recently passed Senate Bill 897, which makes it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units (“ADUs”) and junior accessory dwelling units (“JADUs”) on single family lots. The new changes to the law limit the ability of local governments to impose certain restrictive standards on the approval of ADUs and JADUs. Specifi cally, SB 897 requires that the conditions of approval from the local government must be objective. An “objective” standard, as defi ned in the bill, is one where the conditions of approval “involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public offi cial and are uniformly verifi able by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the public offi cial prior to submittal.” Examples of such standards include the size or height limitations of the ADU or JADU.
Furthermore, a local agency cannot deny an application for a permit to create an ADU or JADU due to a correction of nonconforming zoning conditions, building code violations, or unpermitted structures that do not present a threat to public health and safety and are not affected by the construction of the ADU. This is true even if the ADU has already been constructed on the lot and was built without a permit. Threat
12 May | June 2023
to health and public safety is a broad term, but generally refers to an imminent danger that threatens the bodily safety of an individual or group of people. Thus, even if an ADU was originally built without a permit, the local agency would likely need to approve the ADU retroactively unless there were serious health and safety concerns.
In addition, and to the detriment of homeowner associations, local agencies must review and issue demolition permits for detached garages that are to be replaced with ADU. An applicant is not required to provide written notice or post a placard notifying residents of the upcoming demolition. As such, community associations should require owners to specifi cally provide that information in their own architectural applications if demolition will be required.
Previously, local governments were required to allow a height of sixteen feet for a detached ADU on a lot with an existing or proposed single-family or multifamily dwelling unit. The law now also allows the maximum height for a detached ADU to be up to eighteen feet if the ADU is within half a mile walking distance from a major transit stop or a high-quality transit corridor, or if the ADU is built on a lot with a multifamily, multistory dwelling. A
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