ADU rules in Richmond

Ord. No. 11-26 N.S. (adopted 7-28-2026, effective about 8-27-2026) restated RMC 15.04.610.020 so that ADUs may be built on any legal lot where single-family or multifamily dwellings are permitted and that holds an existing or proposed home. On a single-family lot a state-exempt detached unit of up to 800 sq ft of interior livable space with 4-ft side and rear setbacks is allowed together with a conversion ADU and a JADU (subsection C.1), and local-track detached units of up to 850/1,000 sq ft are allowed one per lot (E.1.a). On multifamily lots the city allows two detached ADUs with a proposed building and, with an existing building, as many as there are existing units up to eight (C.1.c), matching Gov. Code 66323(a)(4). The use tables permit ADUs in RH, RL1, RL2, RM1, RM2, CM-1 to CM-5, LW (limitation L20) and every Form-Based Code transect zone, and OS-H allows them as required by state law; inside the Keller Beach sewer moratorium area of Point Richmond, permits needing a new sewer connection are on hold until about 2-16-2027 (see caveats).

Attached additions (sharing at least one common wall or roofline with the living area of the home, entered from the side or rear) and conversions of existing space are both allowed ministerially. A conversion within the proposed or existing space of a single-family home or an existing accessory structure, with up to 150 sq ft of expansion for ingress and egress, is a state-exempt unit with no size cap (C.1.a), and existing multifamily buildings may convert non-livable space such as storage rooms, attics or garages into ADUs numbering up to 25 percent of the existing units, at least one (C.1.d). A JADU of up to 500 sq ft may be created within a single-family home, including an attached garage, on lots zoned for single-family use (E.4). Local-track attached ADUs may reach 25 ft or the zone height limit, whichever is lower, but no more than two stories (E.1.d.iv), the 66321(b)(4)(D) floor that HCD's 2024 findings said the old 16 ft cap violated.

Subsection E.1.c caps every local-track ADU, attached or detached, at 850 sq ft of interior livable space for a studio or one bedroom and 1,000 sq ft for two or more bedrooms, exactly the floors Gov. Code 66321(b)(2) allows, with no percent-of-home cap. Lot coverage, front setback, FAR, open space and size limits are waived to allow an 800 sq ft unit with 4-ft side and rear setbacks (C.6.b), and the state-exempt detached unit is capped at 800 sq ft (C.1.b). Heights follow 66321(b)(4): 16 ft for detached units, 18 ft within one-half mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor (plus 2 ft to match the home's roof pitch), 18 ft on lots with a multistory multifamily building, and 25 ft or the zone limit for attached units. The 2020 text (Ord. No. 27-20 N.S.) used the same 850/1,000 caps but a flat 16 ft height limit, and JADUs remain capped at 500 sq ft of interior livable space.

Ord. No. 11-26 N.S. states that owner occupancy is not required for an ADU or for a JADU with its own bathroom; only where a JADU shares a bathroom with the single-family home must the owner live in the home or the JADU (government agencies, land trusts and housing organizations excepted), mirroring Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by SB 543 and AB 1154. The rewrite also dropped the 2020 requirement to record a deed restriction for every ADU, which HCD's 10-21-2024 findings called an additional standard barred by Gov. Code 66315; a JADU still needs a recorded deed restriction barring separate sale and fixing its size and attributes (C.5.b), and the applicant acknowledges the shared-bathroom occupancy rule in writing (C.5.a.ii). The city's July 2025 ADU Info Sheet still says owner occupancy is required for every JADU, which state law and the new ordinance have replaced.

Subsection E.1.e requires one space per local-track ADU and none for a studio, with tandem parking on an existing driveway or parking in a setback area allowed; Table 15.04.607.040 likewise sets 1 space per dwelling unit or bedroom, whichever is less, unless 15.04.610.020 waives it, and none for a JADU. No parking applies within one-half mile walking distance of public transit, in an architecturally and historically significant historic district, for a unit within the home or an accessory structure, where on-street permits are not offered to the occupant, within one block of a car-share vehicle, or when the ADU is permitted together with a new home (the Gov. Code 66322(a)(6) case HCD found missing in 2024). State-exempt ADUs under subsection C sit outside the E standards, so they need no parking. Spaces lost when a garage, carport or covered structure is demolished or converted need not be replaced; the local list omits uncovered spaces, which Gov. Code 66314(d)(11) also protects, so state law controls there.

ADU and JADU applications go through the building permit process with a ministerial zoning compliance review by the Zoning Administrator and review by the Building Official; no discretionary review or hearing is allowed unless the application includes unrelated work (A). The city must rule on completeness within 15 business days and approve or deny a complete application within 60 days (30 days for pre-approved detached plans), with deemed approval if it misses the 60-day clock, and an applicant may appeal an incompleteness finding or denial to the Planning Commission within ten days for a decision within 60 business days (B), the process Gov. Code 66317(d) requires. Two older overlays still read as discretionary: the Shoreline Overlay (land within 100 ft of the bay shoreline) requires a conditional use permit for all development (15.04.306.030), and the -H and -L historic overlays require a Certificate of Appropriateness (15.04.303.120); the ADU section prevails over conflicting provisions (C.6.a, G) and Gov. Code 66317(a)(1) bars a hearing, but confirm practice there.

Ord. No. 11-26 N.S. prohibits renting or leasing an ADU or JADU for fewer than 30 consecutive days and has the owner acknowledge this in writing at application (C.3.b, C.5.a); the home-share rules in 15.04.610.030(A) repeat that ADUs and JADUs may not be rented for periods shorter than 30 days, although an on-site host may live in an ADU while home-sharing bedrooms in the main house. Gov. Code 66323(e) and 66333(g) require terms longer than 30 days for state-exempt units and JADUs, so a rental of exactly 30 days is barred for those units. Neither unit may be sold separately except as a qualified-nonprofit tenancy in common under Gov. Code 66341 (C.4), and the city has not opted into 66342 ADU condominiums. Under Rent Board Regulation 201(C) and RMC 11.100.040(a)(2), a lawful ADU is exempt from rent control and just-cause rules when the owner lives in the larger main home; otherwise the Rent Ordinance's just-cause provisions apply. Non-owner-occupied rentals must register for the Chapter 6.40 inspection program (ADUs exempt for five years after the certificate of occupancy) and pay the Class K residential rental business tax unless the 7.04.210(d)(5) owner-occupant exemption applies.