TO: ADAM PIRRIE, CITY MANAGER
FROM: BRAD JOHNSON, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
DATE: JUNE 23, 2026
Reviewed by:
City Manager: AP
SUBJECT:
Title
AMENDMENT TO THE CLAREMONT MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
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SUMMARY
In response to a December 2025 request from the California Department of Housing and Community (HCD), the City has initiated a proposed amendment to the Claremont Municipal Code (CMC) pertaining to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The amendment is intended to incorporate a large number of revisions to California State ADU law designed to encourage and expand the construction of ADUs.
After extensive public comment and participation by both the Planning Commission and Architectural and Preservation Commission during 2018 and 2019, the City Council approved a major revision to the City’s existing ADU Ordinance designed to address State code revisions, codified as Chapter 16.333. As the City’s new Ordinance was first taking effect, the State Legislature passed a number of additional revisions to ADU law that went into effect at the beginning of 2020. In response, the City revised its ADU Ordinance once again, to address the new mandates (“2020 Revise”). The new State revisions allowed for more and larger ADUs than were previously permitted and compelled the City to further amend the CMC to comply with new legal requirements. Those changes were incorporated into the previously approved Chapter 16.333, which is now being further updated to address additional changes to State ADU law that have been passed on an annual basis since 2020.
The current proposal for revising the City’s ADU Ordinance seeks to preserve the intent of the original CMC Chapter 16.333 to the greatest extent possible, due to the extensive community deliberation that went into drafting it. However, the amount of City discretion regarding ADUs has been considerably eroded by changes in State law. The new changes include, but are not limited to, renumbering of State Code references, stricter time limits for approving ADU applications; permitting of more units on some lots and taller ADUs on most residential and mixed use lots; clarifications in the permissible location, height and floor area of ADU’s and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) on properties zoned for residential use; and revising how ADUs are permitted on properties zoned for multifamily use.
On May 19, 2026, the Planning Commission reviewed the draft ordinance, made minor revisions to add clarity and correct a typographical error and adopted a resolution recommending City Council approval. With the understanding of the relative lack of flexibility afforded to the City as a result of new legal requirements, the City Council is now being asked to approve the proposed draft ordinance (Attachment A), which would amend CMC Chapter 16.333 - Accessory Dwelling Units to comply with current State ADU Law.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the City Council:
A. Introduce for first reading and that reading be by title only, AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING EXISTING MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 16.333 - ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (24-CA01); and
B. Find this item is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
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ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the above recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Make changes to the draft ordinance and remand it back to the Planning Commission for additional review and recommendation.
B. Continue the item for additional information and schedule the proposed code amendment for review at a future City Council meeting.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The cost to review the HCD request letter and prepare and review the draft Code Amendment pertaining to ADUs (24-CA01) is estimated at $7,500 and is included in the operating budget of the Community Development Department.
ANALYSIS
Background
Accessory Dwelling Units, or “ADUs”, are secondary, independent facilities located on a property having a residential unit or units. Significant legislation passed at the State level in 2016, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 that prompted the City to initiate ADU code amendments in 2019 and 2020. Since the 2020 code amendment, The State Legislature has continued to pass additional changes to ADU law on an annual basis including:
• Senate Bill 1030 (effective September 25, 2020);
• Senate Bill 1371 and Assembly Bill 3182 (both effective January 1, 2021);
• Assembly Bill 345 (effective January 1, 2022);
• Assembly Bill 2221 and Senate Bill 897 (both effective January 1, 2023);
• Assembly Bills 976 and 1033 (both effective January 1, 2024);
• Senate Bill 477 (effective March 25, 2024);
• Assembly Bills 834 and 1211 (effective January 1, 2025); and
• Senate Bill 543 and Assembly Bill 1170 (effective January 1, 2026);
On December 5, 2025, HCD sent a letter to the City summarizing all changes to ADU Law since 2019 and requesting that the City either amend its ordinance to comply with the changes or repeal its ordinance to provide clarity for ADU applicants who may otherwise rely on the outdated ordinance. A copy of this letter is included as Attachment B to this report. In response, the City concluded it was better to amend rather than repeal its ordinance and provided a timeline for the amendment, which HCD has approved. Both the May 19 Planning Commission hearing and this City Council hearing are contained in that schedule.
The 2019 major ADU revision (Ordinance #2019-07) was crafted over the course of many months with considerable input from the City Council, the Planning Commission, the Architectural and Preservation Commission, and the public. The Ordinance changed how ADUs were regulated in Claremont but retained discretionary design review over many ADU applications. Almost immediately after that ordinance became effective, additional changes were made to State ADU laws that included the elimination of any type of discretionary review, as well as eliminating planning review fees on most ADUs.
ADU Development Trend
Encouraging significant increases in the development of ADUs and JADUs is a major component of the State’s approach to solving the Statewide housing shortage. Prior to the 2018 legislation, the City had very few ADUs and processed an average of approximately one ADU application per year. With the 2019 revision, the City saw a significant increase in the number of ADU applications submitted due to relaxed regulations coupled with growing public awareness and acceptance of ADUs. With the 2020 Revise, ADU applications continued to grow to as many as 66 applications received in 2022. The vast increase is likely a result of soaring housing costs as homeowners sought ways to augment income to pay high mortgages and renters sought affordable places to live. ADU applications received by the Planning Division over the last several years are listed below:
This analysis is a summary of the more substantive changes contained in the draft Code Amendment, generalized on a topic-by-topic basis. For continuity, language is also included regarding past City policies and general concepts that relate to the topic as needed. For a more detailed description of the revisions, the reader is directed to the HCD request letter (Attachment B), which includes a five-page summary of the changes. The reader is also directed to the 2026 HCD Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (Attachment C), which has an even more detailed description of the various components of State ADU Law and how they are implemented by State code. For reference, a copy of the City’s current ADU Ordinance (2020 Revise), Chapter 16.333 of the CMC, approved in 2020, is Attachment D.
Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs)
The 2026 draft Code Amendment deletes language that requires JADUs to include an existing bedroom of the primary residence and adds language to Section 16.333.060.C.(5) that allows JADUs to be constructed within an attached garage, which had not been previously specified.
JADUs are dwelling units of up to 500 square feet in area that are created out of space contained within an existing residence. JADUs are required to have their own cooking and sleeping accommodations but may share a bathroom within the main residence. The City’s 2019 Ordinance did not permit JADUs whatsoever. 2019 State legislation required that JADUs be allowed by right on all single-family residentially developed properties. Development standards for JADUs were included in the City’s 2020 revision (Attachment D). Much of this language remains along with the revised language is contained in Section 16.333.060. Overall adoption of JADUs has been limited to a relatively small number and make up approximately 5 percent of ADU applications. These JADU changes are anticipated to have a modest impact in Claremont and seem sensible for the type of unit.
Objective Design Standards
While most of the standards for ADUs are dictated by State ADU law, municipalities are still able to apply certain objective design standards for ADUs, which must be applied through a ministerial review process. This means design requirements must be purely objective and not leave room for interpretation by decision makers. In the past, Claremont has depended heavily on subjective design review standards in its design review processes; requiring staff and commissions to use judgement when approving projects. These types of review procedures are viewed by the State as problematic and barriers to housing development as they often make zoning rules difficult for applicants to understand, can be capriciously applied, and can be used to deny deserving projects based on personal opinions of the decision makers.
Generally, all of the discretionary review standards for ADUs were removed in the 2020 Revise to focus more on objective standards. The new objective standards included matching the ADU design to the existing primary residence and limiting ADUs to single story and use of clerestory windows that are a minimum of six feet above the floor on those sides to protect privacy for neighbors.
It also relaxes the clerestory window requirement in many situations. The clerestory window requirement has been a concern for many applicants in the past and has proved to be limiting due to Building Code requirements regarding fire egress. The draft Code Amendment also includes language further clarifying that only objective design standards apply to the review of ADU and JADU applications.
Pre-approved ADU Program
While the 2026 Code Amendment retains standards requiring ADUs to match many of the components of the design of the primary residence, it also specifically allows additional design options for ADUs that comply with the City’s pre-approved ADU design program - even when they do not match the design of the main structure.
The pre-approved ADU program began operating in January and offers fully approved designs for detached ADUs in a variety of floorplans and architectural styles including (Ranch, Spanish, and Craftsman). These styles were selected to blend with Claremont’s existing housing designs and may be utilized to ensure appropriate architectural quality and design while making it even easier to gain approval of and construct a new ADU in Claremont. The program has been well received by the public and staff has been discussing these plans with several potential applicants; however, at this time, none have submitted for formal plan approval.
Height
State law has been revised to allow a maximum height of up to 18 feet of height for freestanding ADUs and two stories for ADUs that are attached to existing two-story structures. The City’s current Ordinance includes a maximum permitted ADU height of 16 feet and one story. This section is proposed to be changed to allow 18 feet in height and two stories when attached to a structure of the same height. In addition, staff has added a definition of height to Section 16.333.010 of the ADU Ordinance that states: “Height” shall be, for the purposes of this chapter, the vertical distance to the highest point of the structure from the average elevation of the ground under the building.”
The height definition was added to clarify how height is measured for ADUs, which differs from other structures. Generally, the CMC requires the height of buildings to be measured as the distance between adjacent grade and the midpoint between a gable or hip roof’s eaves and its highest ridge. This allows for the maximum height of a building having a moderately sloped roof to exceed 15 feet as the larger footprint of main units would allow for more height gain over the length of the gable than the narrower ADU. Existing homes with flat roofs are a concern as many are lower than the 18-foot height permitted for ADUs. But the number of low ADUs is relatively few and it would be unlikely for applicants to choose to build an 18-foot-tall, flat-roof ADU if the main residence were lower in height.
Based on the above, staff believes the State-mandated changes to height can be managed using the new ordinance to ensure reasonable consistency with existing City codes and therefore blend with the scale of surrounding development. As a result, the change in height is relatively minor given the existing allowable heights for other structures.
In addition, Claremont’s 2019 ADU Ordinance permitted ADUs up to two-story in height subject to an alternative discretionary review by the Architectural and Preservation Commission. When the 2020 revision occurred, this discretionary review track was deleted in its entirety as all review needed to be ministerial.
Parking
As was the case in the City’s 2020 ADU Ordinance, ADUs have a one-car parking requirement, unless certain criteria are met. Parking for an ADU may be uncovered; it need not be located in a covered garage or carport. The existing Ordinance allows for an existing garage to be converted into an ADU without having to replace the two parking spaces required for the primary dwelling. Generally, most Claremont homes have an existing driveway that can still be used for parking cars on a site. Nearly all have a capacity for two cars and more if parked in tandem arrangements (one car behind another). Properties with two-car garages and no driveway parking capacity are rare in Claremont and are generally limited to townhome condominiums and homes with rear alley access. Homes with no driveway parking capacity have less incentive to convert their garage due to the City’s overnight parking restrictions. Overall, parking requirements for ADUs remain relatively unchanged from the City’s 2020 ADU Ordinance and have not proven to be problematic for nearly all ADU applications.
Application Review
State law requires that ADU applications be reviewed and approved in 60 days or less. A new requirement to provide completeness determinations within 15 business days is designed to further expedite the review process. The condensed review timeline mandated by the State has not been a major problem for City reviews. Most of the exceptions involve very long lead times for resubmittals from applicants or multiple incomplete submittals.
COMMISSION REVEW
On May 19, 2026 the Planning Commission reviewed the draft ordinance, made minor revisions to add clarity and correct a typographical error, and adopted a resolution recommending City Council approval on a 5-1 vote with two absences. There was one member of the public who commented and spoke against the changes. The changes requested by the Planning Commission have been made to the draft ordinance (Attachment A). A copy of the approved Planning Commission Resolution, without Exhibit 1, is Attachment E. The Minutes of the May 19, 2026, Planning Commission Meeting are Attachment F.
BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION
Staff finds that the draft ordinance, which would again amend CMC Chapter 16.333 - Accessory Dwelling Units complies with all new requirements that have become State law since the last ADU code amendment in February 2020. While the new ordinance removes several of the requirements included in the City’s 2019 and 2020 Ordinances pertaining to ADUs, it maintains some City controls through objective design standards, primarily through requirements that the ADU match certain features of the primary residence and adds flexibility to use the City’s new pre-approved ADU plans. Together with Statewide height, setback and interior feature requirements, this ordinance is expected to continue to ensure that new ADUs will be appropriately integrated into the urban fabric of the City’s neighborhoods.
CEQA REVIEW
The proposed Code Amendment pertaining to ADU’s is statutorily exempt from the provisions of CEQA pursuant to Section 15282(h) of the Public Resources Code that exempts the adoption of an ordinance regarding ADUs by cities and counties that implement the provisions of Section 65852.2 of the California Government Code (now codified as Government Code Section 66310 et seq.). Therefore, no further environmental review is necessary.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
On Friday, May 29, 2026, notice of this public hearing was published in the Claremont Courier as a display ad and mailed to persons on the City’s ADU interest list. The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a copy, please contact the City Clerk’s Office.
Note: As of January 1, 2025, California law (AB 2904) requires cities to provide at least 20-day notice for public hearings on zoning ordinances or amendments that affect the permitted uses of real property. This is an increase to the previous 10-day requirement.
Submitted by: Prepared by:
Brad Johnson Christopher Veirs
Community Development Director City Planner
Attachments:
A - Draft Ordinance Amending CMC Section 16.333 - Access Dwelling Units
B - HCD Letter Requesting Update to the City ADU Ordinance
C - HCD Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (Revised 3/2026)
D - CMC Chapter 16.333 Accessory Dwelling Units, Adopted 2/2020 (2020 Revised)
E - PC Resolution Recommending Approval of Draft 2026 ADU Ordinance
F - PC Meeting Minutes of May 19, 2026