ADU rules in Fresno

Detached ADUs are allowed citywide. FMC 15-2754.B.2.a, as repealed and re-enacted by Ord. 2025-24 (effective July 27, 2025), permits ADUs in any zone district that allows single-unit or multi-unit dwellings or mixed-use development, and on any lot where a single-unit home, duplex or multi-unit building exists or is proposed, and the single-unit, duplex and multi-unit rows of the district use tables (Tables 15-802, 15-902, 15-1002, 15-1102, 15-1202, 15-1502) all point to 15-2754. A single-unit lot may have up to two ADUs plus one JADU (D.3.a), and the text does not say that either ADU must be a conversion; a multi-unit lot may have up to eight detached ADUs, never more than the number of existing units (D.3.b.i). A detached unit must sit behind the front facade of the home unless that would preclude an 800 sq ft ADU (D.7), and a tiny house on wheels counts as an ADU if it is ANSI certified, set on an engineered foundation and skirted (C.1.a). Section 15-2754.B.1 makes Gov. Code 66310 et seq. prevail over any conflicting local text.

Attached and interior ADUs are allowed on the same lots. FMC 15-2754.C.1 defines an ADU as attached, detached or located within the structure of a primary dwelling, and C.3 lets an ADU be created by converting part of the home (including an attached garage), a detached garage or another existing accessory structure; a conversion may add up to 150 sq ft beyond the existing structure's dimensions for ingress and egress (D.4.a.i, whose text drops the words 'square feet' that Gov. Code 66323(a)(1)(A) supplies). JADUs of up to 500 sq ft must sit entirely within a single-unit home (attached garages count), need their own entrance and at least an efficiency kitchen, and may share the home's bathroom if they also have an interior entrance to the main living area (C.2); they are limited to single-unit districts or lots with an existing or proposed single-unit dwelling (B.2.b). On multi-unit lots, up to 25 percent of the existing units, or one ADU if that is greater, may be built in non-livable space such as enclosed garages, leasing offices or common rooms (D.3.b.ii).

FMC 15-2754.D.4.a caps every ADU at 50 percent of the average floor area of the primary unit(s) or 1,400 sq ft, whichever is greater, so 1,400 sq ft is always available and a large home can support a bigger unit (up to 1,500 sq ft beside a 3,000 sq ft house); the cap is the same for attached and detached units, and FMC floor area is gross area measured to the outer wall surface (15-6802). JADUs are capped at 500 sq ft (D.4.b). Height is the underlying district limit or 30 feet, whichever is greater, and ADUs may be multi-story or above the ground floor (D.5); side and rear setbacks are the base-district setback or 4 feet, whichever is less, zero on an alley (2 feet if the main entrance faces the alley), and the front setback may not preclude an 800 sq ft ADU (D.6). ADUs are excluded from lot coverage and density (D.1, D.2). These limits are looser than the state defaults of 1,200 sq ft detached and 50 percent of the home attached in Gov. Code 66314(d)(4)-(5), which Gov. Code 66325(b) lets a city relax; before Ord. 2025-24 the largest unit allowed was 1,250 sq ft (June 2025 council presentation).

No for ADUs: FMC 15-2754.F.1.a states that owner occupancy is not required, matching Gov. Code 66315; the pre-2025 code had required the owner to live in one of the units and let only one unit be rented at a time (June 2025 council presentation). For JADUs the codified text (F.1.b) still requires the owner to live in the main home or the JADU in every case, exempting only government agencies, land trusts and housing organizations, but Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154 (effective January 1, 2026) allows that condition only when the JADU shares sanitation facilities with the home. Because 15-2754.B.1 says the Government Code prevails over conflicting local text (and Gov. Code 66339.5 says the same), the operative rule is owner occupancy only for a JADU that shares a bathroom with the main house.

None: FMC 15-2754.E states 'No parking is required' for ADUs and JADUs, and Table 15-2409 (required parking) refers ADUs back to 15-2754, so no space is required anywhere in the city regardless of distance to transit. Under the pre-2025 code a second dwelling unit needed one space, or two with two or more bedrooms (June 2025 council presentation). Section 15-2754 does not repeat the state rule that a garage, carport or parking space demolished or converted for an ADU need not be replaced, but Gov. Code 66314(d)(11) applies through the 15-2754.B.1 preemption clause, and the city's 2023 guidebook states the same; a JADU cannot be charged parking under Gov. Code 66334.

Ministerial: FMC 15-2754.A states that the section exists 'to allow for the ministerial development' of second dwelling units consistent with Gov. Code 66310 et seq., nothing in it calls for a conditional use permit or hearing, and Table 15-4907 (which the code labels a non-regulatory summary) lists a Second Dwelling Unit as needing only a ministerial building permit. The city's ADU Program page (updated June 1, 2026) says pre-approved and custom ADU plans no longer need a Zone Clearance and go straight to a building permit through the Accela Citizen Access portal, with five free pre-approved plans of 340 to 1,015 sq ft; the city's Applications, Forms and Fees page (updated July 13, 2026) still says ADUs need a fee-based Zone Clearance, which would also be ministerial. Gov. Code 66317 adds the 15-business-day completeness check and 60-day decision clock. Designated historic resources and local historic districts are the exception: FMC 12-1617 and 12-1618 require Historic Preservation Commission approval (staff may approve non-substantial work).

ADUs and JADUs may be rented, but FMC 15-2754.F.3 requires terms of 30 consecutive days or longer, so they cannot be used as short-term rentals; state law is slightly stricter for units built under the Gov. Code 66323 exempt pathway and for JADUs, which must be rented for longer than 30 days (66323(e), 66333(g)). Citywide, a dwelling rented for 30 consecutive days or less needs an annual short-term rental permit and must remit transient occupancy tax (FMC 7-1249, added by Ord. 2019-032), a program that can still cover the main house but not the ADU. A rented ADU is a residential rental unit that must be registered under the Rental Housing Improvement Act (FMC 10-1602(f), 10-1605), with newly built units exempt from routine inspection for 10 years (10-1606). Beyond the state's qualified-nonprofit path (Gov. Code 66341), 15-2754.F.2.a lets an ADU be sold separately either as a condominium under Article 39 and Gov. Code 66342 (the state's opt-in ADU condominium regime) or by filing a parcel map under Article 35; a JADU relying on shared facilities must record a deed restriction against separate sale (F.2.b), which Gov. Code 66333(c) extends to every JADU.