ADU rules in Inglewood

Article 35 (Ord. 24-02) applies 'within all residential and mixed-use zones' (§ 12-146(a)) and says 'An Accessory Dwelling Unit is permitted in any zone that allows residential units' (§ 12-149(a)); the permitted-use lists of R-1, R-1Z, R-1½, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-M, the mixed-use zones, C-N and P-1 each list 'Accessory dwelling units subject to the requirements of Article 35' (for example § 12-18(10)). A detached unit must sit behind the house ('the front facade is farther from the front Property line than the primary dwelling'), keep a 4-ft rear yard and side yards of 10 percent of lot width (3 to 5 ft; the city's 2024 standards apply 4 ft side and rear), stay one story and 16 ft tall, and match the house's roof pitch, window casing, color and finish (§ 12-149(a)-(d)); a new detached ADU also goes through staff Site Plan Review (§ 12-147(a)). The local count is one ADU plus one JADU on a single-family lot and at most two detached ADUs on a lot with an existing multifamily building, but Gov. Code 66323(a) requires ministerial approval of any combination of a conversion ADU, a detached new-construction ADU of up to 800 sq ft with 4-ft side and rear setbacks and a JADU, and of up to eight detached ADUs (never more than the existing units) beside an existing multifamily building; HCD's 5-12-2025 findings 1 and 10 told the city to codify these, and state law controls (66325(a)). A 2004 clause still codified at § 12-16.3 makes it unlawful to build 'a second dwelling unit' on R-1, R-1Z or R-1½ property, but the later Article 35 and the zone use lists allow ADUs there and state law forbids such a ban, so it is a dead letter (see caveats).

Attached ADUs (additions) and ADUs carved from the existing home, an attached or detached garage or another accessory structure are allowed on the same lots as detached units: § 12-149(a) lets ADUs include 'portions of dwelling structures that are not used as livable space', naming storage rooms, attics, basements and garages, conversions that add no floor area and expansions of an existing detached structure skip Site Plan Review (§ 12-147(b)-(d)), and § 12-40.1 excepts a 'conversion of a garage into an accessory dwelling unit' from its garage-conversion ban. An attached ADU may rise to the height allowed for the main dwelling (§ 12-149(c)(2)) and must match its roof pitch, window casing, color and finish (§ 12-149(d)). On existing multifamily buildings, ADUs in non-livable space are allowed up to 25 percent of the existing units, at least one (§ 12-149(a); Gov. Code 66323(a)(3)). One JADU of 150 to 500 sq ft with an efficiency kitchen is allowed in an existing single-family home (§ 12-150); the code says 'within the walls of an existing or proposed single family dwelling', while the city's 2024 standards and Gov. Code 66333(d) (HCD finding 16) also count an attached garage.

§ 12-149(a)(2) caps a detached ADU at 'one thousand square feet or one hundred percent of the primary dwelling unit size, whichever is less', with an 850 sq ft cap where the house is under 850 sq ft, and (a)(3) caps an attached ADU at 'eight hundred fifty square feet or fifty percent of the primary dwelling unit size, whichever is less'; the city's May 2024 development standards print the attached cap as 'whichever is greater' and measure square footage by exterior dimensions. State law sets floors the local caps cannot undercut: no maximum below 850 sq ft of interior livable space, or 1,000 sq ft with more than one bedroom, and no percentage, front-setback or similar limit that blocks an 800 sq ft unit with 4-ft side and rear setbacks (Gov. Code 66321(b)(2)-(3)); a state-exempt detached unit may be held to 800 sq ft, and conversions of existing space are capped only by the existing space plus a 150 sq ft ingress expansion (66323(a)(1)-(2)). The code's 500 sq ft ADU minimum (§ 12-149(a)(1)) and the 500 and 700 sq ft dwelling minimums of § 12-6 it incorporates (§ 12-149(a)(4)) yield to the efficiency-unit rule (66321(b)(1); 150 sq ft under Health and Safety Code 17958.1), which the city's standards already apply; JADUs run from 150 sq ft to the lesser of 500 sq ft or half the house (§ 12-150(c)). Detached ADUs are limited to 'one story or sixteen feet to the top of the roof pitch' (§ 12-149(c)(1)) against state floors of 18 ft (plus 2 ft for a matching roof pitch) within one-half mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor or on a lot with a multistory multifamily building, and 25 ft or the main-house limit for attached ADUs (66321(b)(4)); HCD's finding 15 also called the one-story limit impermissible, and ZCA25-00001, which would have raised the local figure to 20 ft, was introduced 9-9-2025 and never adopted. If Ord. 24-02 is void under Gov. Code 66316 or 66326(d) (see caveats), the state default applies instead: detached ADUs up to 1,200 sq ft and attached ADUs up to 50 percent of the existing home, subject to the same floors (66314(d)(4)-(5)).

Inglewood imposes no owner-occupancy requirement on ADUs, at application or afterward, and Gov. Code 66315 bars one ('No additional standards ... shall be used or imposed, including an owner-occupant requirement'). For JADUs, § 12-150(g) still says 'The single family residence in which the JADU is permitted must be owner-occupied' (the owner may live in either the house or the JADU; government agencies, land trusts and housing organizations are exempt), and the city's 2024 standards say the recorded covenant will require owner occupancy whenever a property contains a JADU. Since 1-1-2026, Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154 and SB 543 allows a JADU owner-occupancy requirement only where the JADU shares sanitation facilities with the main home, so a JADU with its own bathroom carries none and the universal local clause yields (66325(a)). The covenant that § 12-148(d) requires before the building permit (the city's April 2026 acknowledgment form says before final inspection or the certificate of occupancy) covers the no-separate-sale rule and, per the city's forms, the short-term rental ban, not owner occupancy of an ADU; HCD's finding 8 says any covenant on an ADU is an additional standard 66315 forbids, while a JADU deed restriction stays required (66333(c)).

§ 12-43(I) lists only two ADU rules, 'No off-street parking is required for ADUs when located within a one-half mile of a transit stop' and no replacement of a garage, carport or covered parking structure demolished for or converted to an ADU, and states no ADU requirement as such; the general § 12-43(A) rule of two enclosed spaces per unit on a one- or two-unit lot would exceed the state cap if applied to an ADU, and the city does not apply it. The city's 2024 standards require 'one parking space ... on the driveway in a tandem configuration' unless the ADU is within a half-mile walk of transit or one block of a car-share vehicle, is part of the existing or proposed home or an accessory structure, or sits where on-street permits are required but not offered to its occupant. State law caps ADU parking at one space per unit or per bedroom, whichever is less, allows tandem driveway spaces (Gov. Code 66314(d)(10)), and bars any parking standard in the six 66322(a) cases 'whether or not the local agency has adopted an ordinance', adding the historic-district and concurrent new-home exemptions HCD's finding 4 said the code omits; 'public transit' includes any bus stop (66313(m)). Units approved under 66323 carry no parking requirement (66323(b)), JADUs need none (66334(a)), and garage, carport or parking spaces demolished in conjunction with an ADU or converted to one cannot be required to be replaced (66314(d)(11)), although footnote 3 of the city's standards still asks for replacement of enclosed parking demolished outside the ADU footprint.

A new detached ADU needs Site Plan Review (§ 12-147(a)), a staff approval 'by the Director or designee' with no hearing that precedes the building permit (§§ 12-39.50, 12-39.52), with conditions appealable to the Planning Commission (§ 12-39.56); conversions that add no floor area, conversions of non-livable multifamily space, expansions of an existing detached structure and deed-restricted affordable ADUs are exempt (§ 12-147(b)-(d), (g)), and the zone use lists treat ADUs as permitted uses, so no Special Use Permit applies. § 12-147(e) has the Economic and Community Development Director act on an ADU or JADU application within sixty days of a complete application and calls a JADU filed with a new home 'ministerial without discretionary review or a hearing'. HCD's finding 5 warned that Site Plan Review, whose stated purpose is applying 'optimum rather than minimum design standards, based on the individual needs and circumstances of each proposed development project' (§ 12-39.51), must not operate as a discretionary process, and finding 6 asked the city to replace 'shall act' with 'shall approve or deny'. Gov. Code 66317(a) requires ministerial approval without discretionary review or a hearing, a completeness determination within 15 business days and approval or denial within 60 days of a complete application, after which the application is deemed approved. Lots in the 'D' design overlay need Planning Commission design review before a building permit (§§ 12-35.2, 12-35.4), which 66317 bars for ADUs (see caveats).

§ 12-148(a)-(b): 'ADUs and JADUs shall not be rented for a period less than thirty days' and 'An ADU shall not be advertised or used as a short-term rental' (repeated in § 12-147(e)(3)); Gov. Code 66315 permits a 30-day minimum for ordinary ADUs, while state law requires terms longer than 30 days for units approved under 66323 (66323(e)) and for JADUs (66333(g)). The short-term rental ordinance (Ord. 22-15, Chapter 8, Article 11) separately provides that 'Accessory dwelling units (ADU) permitted on or after January 1, 2017, may not be used as a short-term rental' (§ 8-139(5)), hosted and unhosted STR permits go only to owner-hosts who have lived in the unit for the prior 365 days, with separate residency tests for vacation rentals (§§ 8-139(10), 8-140), and the city's STR FAQ states that ADUs are ineligible. No ADU or JADU may be sold or conveyed separately from the lot and the main dwelling (§ 12-148(c)), backed by the recorded covenant; Gov. Code 66341 still requires allowing a sale to a qualified buyer through a qualified nonprofit (HCD finding 7), and the city has not opted into 66342 condominium conveyance. A rented ADU is a 'rental unit' under the Housing Protection ordinance (Ord. 21-09): owners register each unit rented for more than 30 days or file an annual claim of exemption (§ 8-126), while units with a certificate of occupancy for new construction within the previous 15 years, and owner-occupied properties renting out a single ADU or JADU with the required written notice, are exempt from the rent caps of § 8-127 and the just-cause rules of § 8-121 (§§ 8-121(b)(4)-(5), 8-125).