The City of San Diego’s Planning Commission today advanced Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed amendments to the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (JADU) regulations to the City Council Land Use & Housing Committee. 

The Planning Commission also requested that City staff provide additional options related to development scale, such as unit size, floor area ratio, and maximum development caps for consideration. 

Mayor Gloria’s 24 proposed changes include updates to both the state-mandated ADU allowance program and the City’s ADU Home Density Bonus Program, which offers incentives to create ADUs with rents restricted to be affordable to moderate and low-income residents. 

“These amendments will help us create more housing opportunities for San Diegans while ensuring that new development is consistent with the scale and character of San Diego’s neighborhoods and addressing public safety concerns,” said City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum. “We appreciate the Planning Commission’s feedback and look forward to providing the requested additional options, as well as continuing the conversation with the community and stakeholders throughout this process.”

ADU homes are additional housing units built alongside a primary residence and can play a key role in addressing San Diego’s critical housing shortage by producing homes for people of all incomes. JADU homes are smaller units — no more than 500 square feet — created within existing homes in single-family zones.

The proposed amendments to the ADU Home Density Bonus Program address infrastructure needs, development scale, parking, affordable housing compliance, evacuation routes, fire sprinkler requirements and setbacks. 

Highlights of the proposed amendments to the ADU Home Density Bonus Program include: 

•  Development Scale: Applies the ADU Home Density Bonus Program to multi-family zones and certain single-family zones, removing the lowest-density residential zones from the program entirely. It also further limits the number of bonus ADU homes that can be built through additional limitations on allowable floor area. Additional options to address development scale will be presented to the Land Use & Housing Committee as recommended by the Planning Commission.
• Community Enhancement Fee: Requires applicants opting into the ADU Home Density Bonus Program to pay a Community Enhancement Fee for all affordable and bonus ADU homes under 750 square feet permitted through the program. This is to help address community infrastructure needs.
• Fire Safety: Requires two evacuation routes for projects located in High and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Areas and ensures adequate fire sprinklers are provided.
• Parking: While state law prohibits the City from applying parking requirements to ADU homes located within a Transit Priority Area, the proposed amendments would require one off-street parking space for each affordable ADU home and bonus ADU home located outside of a Transit Priority Area.  
•  Increased Penalties: Increases fines for violations of the deed restriction for affordable rents on homes created through the ADU Density Bonus Program to a minimum of $10,000 per affordable ADU home per month. 

Highlights of additional regulatory amendments related to state-required ADU and JADU homes include: 

•  ADU Home Separate Sale or Conveyance: Implements AB 1033 by establishing local regulations that allow for the conversion of certain ADU homes into separate condominium units, allowing them to be sold independently from the primary residence.
• Fire Safety Setbacks: Requires ADU homes located within High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones to maintain a minimum five-foot interior side and rear yard setback to provide adequate defensible space between all structures on the premises and adjacent vegetation.
• ADU Home Minimum and Maximum Size: Aligns ADU size regulations with state law. Detached and newly built ADU homes would continue to be limited to 1,200 square feet, while ADU homes created by converting existing space within a home or building would no longer have a maximum size limit, consistent with state requirements. 

City staff included feedback from the City Council in the proposed package of reforms to the ADU Home Density Bonus Program and proposed updates to ADU and JADU regulations to comply with evolving state laws.

The report to the Planning Commission provides a complete list of the 24 proposed amendments and more details. The proposed changes were also shared with the Community Planners Committee in a memorandum on March 21 to facilitate public discussion and gather feedback. 

The proposed amendments will now advance to the City Council’s Land Use & Housing Committee on May 15 for further review before being presented to the full Council for their consideration in June. 

The City continues to welcome input from community members and stakeholders as the proposed amendments advance to the Land Use & Housing Committee and the City Council. Public feedback can be submitted by emailing developmentcode@sandiego.gov, and more information is available at the City’s Land Development Code webpage.