ADU rules in Menifee

Detached ADUs are a permitted use (P) in all six residential zones (LDR-1, LDR-2, LMDR, MDR, MHDR, HDR), all six agricultural and rural residential zones (AG, RM, RR5, RR2, RR1, RR1/2) and all five Economic Development Corridor zones ('As allowed by State law'), approved ministerially with a building permit under Development Code § 9.295.020 (Ord. 2024-384, amended by Ord. 2025-417, effective 8-16-2025). The codified text allows one ADU plus one JADU per lot (§ 9.295.020(E)(2)(b)), but Gov. Code 66323(a) requires approval of any combination of a converted ADU, one 800 sq ft detached new-construction ADU and a JADU on a single-family lot, a limit HCD's 6-30-2025 findings flagged. On multifamily lots the code now allows up to eight detached ADUs beside an existing building (not more than its unit count) or two beside a proposed one (§ 9.295.020(E)(3)(d), the SB 1211 counts added by Ord. 2025-417). Detached units go to the side or rear of the house; ADUs in Quail Valley's septic-moratorium sub-areas need a sewer connection.

Attached additions and conversions of space inside the house, an attached or detached garage or another permitted accessory structure are allowed in the same zones through a building permit. Conversions follow § 9.295.020(E)(1) (exterior access, setbacks sufficient for fire safety, no replacement parking, no stated size cap); new attached additions follow (E)(2) with the 1,500 sq ft cap and a 25 ft (or zone) height limit. JADUs of up to 500 sq ft built entirely within a single-family home or its attached garage are permitted in every residential and rural zone (§ 9.295.020(E)(4)). The codified condition that the lot hold 'no more than one existing or proposed dwelling' ((E)(1)(a), (E)(2)(a)) does not stop multifamily conversions, which (E)(3)(c) allows in non-livable space for at least one unit and up to 25 percent of the existing units, as Gov. Code 66323(a)(3) requires.

§ 9.295.020(E)(2)(f) caps any new attached or detached ADU at 1,500 square feet of total floor area, raised from 1,200 sq ft by Ord. 2024-384 (the 2023 text also held attached units to 50 percent of the house; the current text has no percentage cap). The city FAQ and the permit-ready application packet both apply the 1,500 sq ft figure as living or livable space. Conversions of existing space carry no stated cap, the Gov. Code 66323 detached unit is capped at 800 sq ft ((E)(3)(b)(i)) and JADUs at 500 sq ft ((E)(4)(g)). Heights: 18 ft detached, 20 ft within one-half mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor, and 25 ft or the zone limit, whichever is lower, for attached units ((E)(2)(g)(ii)). Two cautions: the June 2026 ADU Guidebook still prints the pre-2024 table (1,200 sq ft detached, attached 1,200 sq ft or 50 percent, 16 ft), and if the ordinance is void under Gov. Code 66326(d) for the unanswered HCD findings, the state standards of 66314(d)(4)-(5) (attached 50 percent of the existing home, detached 1,200 sq ft, with the 66321(b) floors of 850, 1,000 and 800 sq ft) would replace the 1,500 sq ft cap.

No owner occupancy for ADUs. Ord. 2024-384 deleted the pre-2024 rule that 'either the primary dwelling or the accessory dwelling unit shall be occupied by the owner of the property', the current text says the ADU 'may be rented' (§ 9.295.020(E)(1)(c), (E)(2)(c)), and Gov. Code 66315 bars owner-occupant requirements. JADUs: § 9.295.020(E)(4)(j) still makes every JADU owner sign a covenant to live in the main house or the JADU, but since 1-1-2026 Gov. Code 66333(b) (as amended by AB 1154) allows that only where the JADU shares sanitation with the main home, so a JADU with its own bathroom needs no owner on site. The recorded JADU deed restriction barring separate sale and fixing size and attributes still applies ((E)(4)(k); 66333(c)).

§ 9.295.020(E)(2)(i) requires one off-street space for each new attached or detached ADU; it may be uncovered, tandem or in a setback. The space is waived within one-half mile walking distance of public transit, in a historic district, for a unit that is part of the existing or proposed home or an accessory structure, where on-street permits are required but not offered, within one block of a car-share vehicle, and when the ADU is filed with a new single-family or multifamily dwelling, the six Gov. Code 66322(a) exemptions. Conversions under (E)(1) and JADUs ((E)(4)(i)) need no space, and Gov. Code 66323(b) bars parking conditions on state-exempt units. A garage, carport or covered space removed for an ADU need not be replaced ((E)(1)(h), (E)(2)(i)(iii)); state law extends that to uncovered spaces (66314(d)(11)), one of HCD's findings. On a plain reading of 66314(d)(10)(A) (one space per unit or per bedroom, whichever is less) a studio owes none.

ADUs and JADUs are approved ministerially through building plan check and a building permit, 'without discretionary review or a hearing', with a 60-day decision clock on lots with an existing home (§ 9.295.020(C)(1)-(2)); Ord. 2024-384 removed the old planning-permit step for new units. Applicants using one of the eight free Permit Ready ADU plan sets skip building plan check but still submit a site plan. The city's 2025 Housing Element progress report counts 25 ADU building permits and no planning entitlements for ADUs in 2025. Edge cases: multiple ADUs proposed with new single-family homes in a residential subdivision go through a Minor Plot Plan, which Table 9.30.090-1 classes as ministerial with the Community Development Director deciding and no hearing (§ 9.295.020(C)(7); Ch. 9.80), and front-yard placement beyond what an 800 sq ft unit needs takes a Minor Exception, a discretionary Director decision (§ 9.70.020; Table 9.30.090-1).

ADUs may be rented but 'shall not be rented for less than a 30-day period', and JADUs likewise (§ 9.295.020(E)(1)(d), (E)(2)(d), (E)(4)(c)), a floor Gov. Code 66315 allows for ordinary ADUs; for JADUs and state-exempt 66323 units state law requires terms longer than 30 days (66333(g), 66323(e)), and the city's permit-ready packet already tells owners 'longer than 30 days'. Short-term rentals (under 30 days, § 9.300.200) are a prohibited use in all six residential zones (Table 9.130.030-1) and all six agricultural and rural residential zones (Table 9.125.030-1), rows that predate the ADU ordinance; Menifee has no STR permit program. No separate sale except to a low- or moderate-income buyer through a qualified nonprofit (§ 9.295.020(E)(1)(c), the Gov. Code 66341 regime), and no 66342 condominium opt-in. No rental registration or landlord license appears in the Municipal Code.