ADU rules in Pomona

Detached ADUs are allowed with a building permit only wherever the Zoning and Development Code (ZDC) allows housing: the Sec. 520.C use table marks 'Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)' P* (permitted, use standard applies) in the R1, RX1, CX1 through CX5 and IX1 use modules and not in the industrial I1 to I3, Public 1 or open space modules (the Public 2 column defers to the Fairplex overlay). Under ZDC Sec. 830.A as restated by Ord. No. 4363 (adopted February 2, 2026), a Type 1 'Limited Detached ADU' of up to 800 sq ft of interior livable space with 4-foot side and rear setbacks is allowed on a single-unit lot in addition to a JADU, and larger detached units up to the Type 2 caps (850 to 1,200 sq ft) must meet the 830.A.6 standards (underlying-zone front yard and lot coverage, side and rear setbacks capped at 4 feet, exterior materials and colors matching the home). On multifamily lots the local text allows 'No more than two Detached ADUs', but Gov. Code 66323(a)(4)(A) requires ministerial approval of up to eight detached ADUs beside an existing multifamily building (never more than its existing unit count) and two beside a proposed one, so the state count governs; Ord. No. 4354 (January 27, 2025) had codified the eight-unit count before Ord. No. 4363 restored the two-unit text. On a California Register property, a local landmark or in a designated historic district a detached ADU also needs a Major Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission (830.A.9).

Attached ADUs and conversions are allowed ministerially. A Type 1 'Interior ADU' within the proposed or existing space of a single-unit home or the existing space of an accessory structure (an accessory structure of any size, plus up to 150 sq ft for ingress and egress), together with one JADU of up to 500 sq ft of interior livable space inside the single-family structure, needs only a building permit (830.A.4.a.ii); in existing multifamily buildings, ADUs in non-livable space such as storage rooms, attics, basements or garages are allowed, at least one and up to 25 percent of the existing units (830.A.4.a.iv). A newly constructed 'Attached ADU', which may sit partly within the existing floor area of the home, is a Type 2 unit subject to the 830.A.6 size and yard standards and may be 25 feet tall or the zone's height limit, whichever is lower, and no more than two stories (830.A.5.b.iv). ZDC Sec. 550.C.10 still reads 'One ADU is allowed in addition to 1 Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit', but Gov. Code 66323(a), as amended by SB 543, requires approval of 'any combination' of the state-exempt units, so a single-family lot may combine a conversion ADU, an 800 sq ft detached ADU and a JADU, and 550.C.10.b itself defers to the Government Code. Type 2 units presuppose a 'Primary Dwelling Unit', which 830.A.3.o defines as a single-unit dwelling, a limit HCD's October 29, 2024 findings called inconsistent with Gov. Code 66313(a) and 66314(d)(2).

Pomona sets its caps by lot size rather than as a share of the home: on lots under 7,200 sq ft a Type 2 attached or detached ADU may not exceed 850 sq ft of interior livable space as a studio or one-bedroom or 1,000 sq ft with two or more bedrooms, and on lots of 7,200 sq ft or more the cap is 1,200 sq ft (830.A.6.b.i to ii); there is no percentage-of-the-home limit for attached units. Lot coverage follows the underlying zone, but no front yard, lot coverage or open space rule may force a unit below 800 sq ft of interior livable space (830.A.6.b.iii, matching Gov. Code 66321(b)(3)). The Type 1 state-exempt detached unit is capped at 800 sq ft of interior livable space, a conversion is limited to the existing space (plus 150 sq ft for ingress and egress when converting an accessory structure), and a JADU may not exceed 500 sq ft of interior livable space. Heights: 16 feet for a detached ADU, 18 feet within one-half mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor (plus 2 feet to match the home's roof pitch, 20 feet maximum) or on a lot with a multistory multifamily building, and 25 feet or the zone limit, whichever is lower, for an attached ADU, never more than two stories; Pomona measures height from the adjoining curb level (830.A.5.b.v). The interior-livable-space wording arrived with Ord. No. 4363 (SB 543); the compiled ZDC PDFs, including the July 15, 2026 edition, still print the same numbers without it.

No owner-occupancy requirement applies to ADUs: Ord. No. 4363 says so outright ('ADUs are not subject to an owner-occupancy requirement', 830.A.5.g.i), consistent with Gov. Code 66315, which bars 'an owner-occupant requirement' for ADUs. JADUs are 'generally' owner-occupied (a natural person with legal or equitable title must live in the primary dwelling or the JADU), except where the JADU has separate sanitation facilities or the property is entirely owned by a governmental agency, land trust or housing organization (830.A.5.g.ii), which tracks Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154 effective January 1, 2026. History: the 2021 standards (Ord. No. 4307) and Ord. No. 4324 (December 19, 2022) would have imposed owner occupancy on ADUs created on or after January 1, 2025; HCD's October 29, 2024 findings called that barred by 66315, and the July 2024 ZDC and Ords. 4353 and 4354 had already confined the rule to JADUs. The compiled ZDC PDFs still print the pre-2026 universal JADU clause ('all JADUs are subject to an owner-occupancy requirement'), which Ord. No. 4363 superseded. A deed restriction recorded before the certificate of occupancy still ties the unit to the lot against separate sale (830.A.5.h).

'No parking is required for any ADU' (830.A.6.f.i); spaces an owner chooses to provide must be on an approved surface, at least 9 by 18 feet (9 by 33 feet for tandem), and may sit in yard areas or in tandem. When a garage, carport or covered parking structure is demolished for, or converted to, an ADU, those spaces need not be replaced (830.A.6.f.vii); Gov. Code 66314(d)(11) extends the same protection to uncovered parking spaces, wording Ord. No. 4354 had added and Ord. No. 4363 dropped, and state law controls. Pomona's blanket waiver goes beyond the Gov. Code 66322(a) exemptions (within one-half mile walking distance of public transit, historic districts, units within the home or an accessory structure), as 66314(b)(2) allows, and Gov. Code 66334(a) bars any added parking for a JADU.

Both of Pomona's ADU tracks are 'Building Permit Only': Type 1 covers the state-exempt conversion, JADU, limited detached and multifamily units, and Type 2 every other ADU that meets the 830.A.5 and 830.A.6 standards (830.A.4.a to b). Ord. No. 4363 added the SB 543 procedure: completeness is determined within 15 business days, 'Ministerial permits for an ADU or JADU are considered and approved without discretionary review or a hearing', a complete application must be approved or denied within 60 days or is deemed approved, and incompleteness findings and denials may be appealed in writing to the city clerk for Planning Commission review, with a final decision within 60 business days (830.A.4.c, tracking Gov. Code 66317 and 66335). The exception is historic property: an ADU on a California Register property, a local landmark or in a designated historic district needs a Major Certificate of Appropriateness decided by the Historic Preservation Commission (review limited to architecture; decision within 75 days of a complete application) for any Limited Detached ADU, any Type 2 attached, detached or expanded interior ADU, and any interior unit whose design would harm the resource (830.A.9; 800.C.7; 1190.D). The city's Plan Check Guide still says an ADU that misses the standards 'may' need a Planning Commission conditional use permit; 830.A provides no such path and Gov. Code 66317(a)(1) bars one.

An ADU or JADU 'may be rented' but not for a term shorter than 30 days, whenever it was created (830.A.5.d to e). The City Code's short-term rental division separately provides that no ADU or JADU 'may be used for short-term rental' and defines a short-term rental as 30 or fewer consecutive nights (Secs. 30-590, 30-591(d), Ord. No. 4342 of February 26, 2024), so an ADU lease must in practice run longer than 30 nights, the term state law requires for state-exempt ADUs and JADUs (Gov. Code 66323(e), 66333(g)); elsewhere Pomona allows only hosted short-term stays in an owner-occupied primary residence under an annual STR permit, with transient occupancy tax and a business license. ADUs may not be sold or conveyed apart from the lot and primary dwelling except as the Government Code provides (qualified-nonprofit sales under 66341; no 66342 condominium opt-in found), and a deed restriction barring separate sale and fixing the approved size must be recorded before the certificate of occupancy (830.A.5.h), a condition HCD's 2024 findings called barred for ADUs by Gov. Code 66315 and that Ord. No. 4354 had deleted before Ord. No. 4363 restored it. Long-term ADU tenancies fall under the Rent Stabilization and Eviction Control Ordinance of 2025 (Ord. No. 4359) unless the landlord files a notice of exemption, available for units with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995 or within the previous 15 years and for owner-occupied homes renting no more than two units including an ADU or JADU (City Code Sec. 30-574).