ADU rules in Dana Point

Outside the coastal zone (about 52 percent of the city's 4,134 acres), Ord. 26-07 makes detached ADUs a ministerial use from about 10-15-2026: a state-exempt detached unit of up to 800 sq ft of livable space with 4 ft side and rear setbacks on any lot with an existing or proposed single-family home (§ 9.07.212(E)(2)), up to eight detached units on a lot with an existing multifamily building and two with a proposed one (E)(4), and a local-track detached unit under § 9.07.212(F) (one per single-family lot; none in multifamily or mixed-use zones unless the lot holds a single-family home). In six mapped Public Safety Areas, a local-track ADU on a lot whose existing development is nonconforming as to parking or driveway length needs a discretionary Site Development Permit ((F)(1)(c)). Inside the coastal zone (the Coastal Overlay District, about 48 percent of the city), Ord. 26-07 has no effect until the Coastal Commission certifies an LCP amendment (Ord. 26-07 § 6), and the city applies the certified LCP rule that Ord. 26-08 reinstated as § 9.07.210: a detached second unit of up to 1,200 sq ft needs a Planning Commission Conditional Use Permit plus a coastal development permit. Gov. Code 66317(a)(1) requires ministerial approval without a hearing, but 66329(a) preserves the Coastal Act, and HCD's 8-13-2025 notice accepted that a fully certified LCP's conflicting provisions supersede State ADU Law inside the coastal zone.

Outside the coastal zone, Ord. 26-07 allows ministerially one ADU and one JADU within the existing or proposed space of a single-family home (an ADU may instead occupy an existing accessory structure, with up to 150 sq ft of expansion for access), multifamily conversion ADUs (the greater of 25 percent of the existing units or one per building), and a local-track attached ADU of new construction (§ 9.07.212(E)(1), (E)(3), (F)). An attached ADU may be two stories up to 25 ft or the zone height, whichever is lower ((F)(5)(c)). The § 9.09.020 use tables list JADUs as P* in the RSF districts, RBR 12 and RSF 22 but X in the RBRD 18, RD 14 and RMF districts, narrower than Gov. Code 66323(a)(1) for single-family lots in those zones. Inside the coastal zone an attached second unit, like a detached one, needs a Planning Commission Conditional Use Permit and a coastal development permit under the certified LCP text (§ 9.07.210(b) as reinstated by Ord. 26-08), and the LCP says nothing about JADUs or conversions, so how the city handles them there is undocumented.

Ord. 26-07 caps local-track (non-mandatory) ADUs at 850 sq ft of interior livable space for one bedroom or less and 1,000 sq ft for more than one bedroom (§ 9.07.212(F)(6)(b)), the Gov. Code 66321(b)(2) figures; an attached ADU added to an existing home is also limited to 50 percent of the home's living area, but attached new construction is never held below 800 sq ft, and conversions have no maximum ((F)(6)(a)). The state-exempt detached unit may be held to 800 sq ft of livable space ((E)(2)(c)), a JADU to 500 sq ft of livable space (§ 9.07.215(D)(3)(a)), and an ADU that misses the objective standards can reach 1,200 sq ft of living area only through a discretionary Site Development Permit ((H)(3)). Heights are 16 ft for detached units, 18 ft within one-half mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor or beside a multistory multifamily building, plus up to 2 ft to match the main roof pitch, and 25 ft or the zone height, whichever is lower, for attached units ((F)(5)). Inside the coastal zone the certified LCP limits a second unit to 30 percent of the main home's living area when attached and 1,200 sq ft when detached, with no encroachment into the main home's setbacks (§ 9.07.210(b)(2)-(3) as reinstated by Ord. 26-08); the 30 percent rule falls below the 800 sq ft guarantee of 66321(b)(3) for any home under about 2,667 sq ft.

Ord. 26-07 drops owner occupancy for ADUs: state-exempt units take the sale and rental rules of § 9.07.215(D)(1) "except that an ADU shall not be subject to the owner-occupancy requirement" there unless conveyed under Gov. Code 66341 (§ 9.07.212(E)(1)(f)), and the local-track rule ((F)(2)) has no occupancy clause, replacing the codified 2021 text that required an owner to live on the lot from 1-1-2025. For a JADU the owner must make the main home or the JADU a primary residence only when the JADU lacks separate sanitation facilities (§ 9.07.215(D)(1)), matching Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154; § 9.07.215(C)(1) still calls for a recorded deed restriction, which 66333(c) requires in any event. Gov. Code 66315 bars owner-occupancy conditions on ADUs. The certified coastal-zone text has no owner-occupancy rule, but it limits who may occupy a second unit (see rentalRestrictions).

Ord. 26-07 requires at least one off-street space per local-track ADU except an efficiency unit; it may be uncovered, tandem or in setbacks unless the city finds that infeasible for site, topographic or fire and life safety reasons, it is in addition to the main home's parking, and a nonconforming main-home parking area need not be corrected (§ 9.07.212(F)(8)(a)-(d)). No space is required within one-half mile walking distance of public transit "including bus stops", in an architecturally and historically significant district, for a unit inside the existing or proposed home or an existing accessory structure, where on-street permits are required but not offered, within one block of a car-share vehicle, or when the ADU is applied for with a new single-family or multifamily home ((F)(8)(e)-(f)); state-exempt units carry no parking (Gov. Code 66323(b)), and a JADU needs none, with no replacement when it converts enclosed parking (§ 9.07.215(D)(4)). The ordinance does not restate the Gov. Code 66314(d)(11) bar on replacing a garage or carport demolished or converted for an ADU, an omission HCD's 6-8-2026 review flagged, but the statute applies regardless. Inside the coastal zone the certified LCP requires "an additional parking stall" under Chapter 9.35 for every second unit (§ 9.07.210(b)(4)), which 66322(a) would bar outside the coastal zone.

Outside the coastal zone an ADU or JADU needs an ADU (or JADU) Permit plus a building permit, which the Community Development Director decides "ministerially without any discretionary review or a public hearing" within 60 days of a complete application (§ 9.07.212(D)(4)(a)-(b); § 9.07.215(C)(4)); the city's ADU page lists a $5,422 ADU Permit fee. Two discretionary Site Development Permit paths heard by the Planning Commission remain: local-track units on lots in the six Public Safety Areas whose existing development is nonconforming as to parking or driveway length ((F)(1)(c)-(d)), and any unit that exceeds the objective standards ((H)); HCD's 6-8-2026 preliminary review called the PSA rule a moratorium that needs HCD approval under Gov. Code 66300(b)(1)(B)(ii) before it can take effect. Inside the coastal zone a second unit needs a Conditional Use Permit approved by the Planning Commission (§ 9.07.210(b), certified LCP) plus a coastal development permit; Gov. Code 66329(a), as amended by AB 462 effective 10-10-2025, requires the city to approve or deny the coastal permit within 60 days under 66317, concurrently with the ADU review and without any required hearing, and 66329(c) bars appeal of that decision to the Coastal Commission. The value is "varies" because the same ADU is ministerial inland and a conditional use in the coastal zone.

Ord. 26-07 lets an ADU be rented but not "for less than thirty (30) days" and bars separate sale unless state law allows it (§ 9.07.212(F)(2)); the 30-day term is lawful for ordinary ADUs under Gov. Code 66315, while state law requires terms longer than 30 days for state-exempt units (66323(e)) and JADUs (66333(g)), and the JADU section is silent on rental terms. Outside the coastal zone DPMC § 5.38.090(a) bars renting or advertising any ADU or JADU as a short-term rental and bars issuing it an STR permit, and inside the coastal zone § 10(a) of the Coastal Commission-approved STR Program (CDP A-5-DPT-22-0038) says the same, though per the Commission staff report a host may stay in the ADU while renting the main home. Separate sale is limited to what state law allows (the 66341 nonprofit path); the "Government Code 66340 et. seq." wording does not expressly opt into 66342 condominium sales, as HCD noted in 2025. Inside the coastal zone the certified LCP adds that a second unit "may be occupied by an individual adult or two senior adults", may not be sold separately, and must be affordable to low- and moderate-income persons for the life of the project, with the CUP and its conditions recorded (§ 9.07.210(b)(1), (6)-(7)), limits 66315 would not allow outside the coastal zone.