ADU rules in Upland

Detached ADUs are permitted on lots with a proposed or existing single-family or multifamily home in every RS and RM zone except the RS-MH mobile home zone, and in the B/R-MU mixed-use zone. A state-exempt Class 1 unit (Gov. Code 66323) can be up to 800 sq ft of livable space with 4-foot side and rear setbacks on a single-family lot, and multifamily lots get up to two detached units (proposed building) or up to eight (existing building, not more than its unit count). Any other detached ADU is a locally regulated Class 2 unit under 17.37.070 (850 or 1,000 sq ft, one story, 4-foot side and rear and 25-foot front setbacks, design rules), and from 10-14-2026 eligible RS-10, RS-15 and RS-20 lots over 15,000 sq ft can add one deed-restricted bonus unit.

Attached additions are Class 2 units capped at 850 or 1,000 sq ft and at 50 percent of the existing home, never forced below 800 sq ft, up to 25 feet or the zone height (whichever is lower) and two stories; balconies and roof decks are prohibited. Conversions of space inside a proposed or existing house or an existing accessory structure (plus up to 150 sq ft for ingress and egress) are Class 1 units with no size cap, and one JADU of up to 500 sq ft may be added inside a single-family home or its attached garage. JADUs are limited to lots zoned for single-family residences.

Upland splits ADUs into Class 1 (Gov. Code 66323 state-exempt units) and Class 2 (locally regulated under 66314 to 66322); the 850/1,000 sq ft caps, the 50 percent attached cap and the lot coverage limits (35 percent in RS-15 and RS-20, 40 in RS-10, 45 in RS-7.5 and B/R-MU, 50 in RS-4) apply only to Class 2 units and yield to the 800 sq ft floor. A Class 1 detached unit is capped at 800 sq ft of livable space, conversions have no cap beyond the existing space plus 150 sq ft, and a JADU is capped at 500 sq ft of interior livable space. Detached ADUs may be 16 feet tall (18 feet within a half mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor plus 2 feet for a matching roof pitch, or 18 feet on a lot with a multistory multifamily building), and Class 2 units are one story unless attached. From 10-14-2026 a bonus ADU (Ord. 2014) is capped at 800 sq ft and a bonus JADU at 500 sq ft.

ADUs carry no owner-occupancy requirement at application or afterward, consistent with Gov. Code 66315. A JADU requires the owner to live in the house or the JADU only when the JADU shares sanitation facilities with the main home (or not at all when a government agency, land trust or housing organization owns the property), matching Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154 and SB 543. Ord. 2009 also limited the recorded deed restriction to JADUs after HCD's 7-8-2025 finding that an ADU deed restriction is an unlawful extra standard; the eCode360 text still prints the superseded universal JADU rule and ADU deed restriction. The 10-14-2026 bonus program adds an affordability deed restriction, not an owner-occupancy rule.

The parking rule sits in 17.37.070, which applies only to Class 2 ADUs, so Class 1 units and JADUs need no space. A Class 2 ADU needs one off-street space (tandem or in setback areas allowed) unless it is within a half-mile walk of public transit, in a historic district, 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 stop, or applied for together with a new home, which mirrors Gov. Code 66322(a)(1)-(6); because the rule is one space per ADU or per bedroom, whichever is less, a studio arguably needs none. Garages, carports or uncovered spaces removed or converted for an ADU need not be replaced. From 10-14-2026 a bonus ADU or bonus JADU must provide one space; the older Table 17.11-1 row ('Second Dwelling Unit: 1 space in addition to that required for a single-family unit') is superseded by Chapter 17.37.

Every ADU and JADU needs a ministerial ADU permit plus a building permit, approved without discretionary review or a hearing: the city must decide completeness within 15 business days and approve or deny a complete application within 60 days, with written appeals of incompleteness or denial decided by the Planning Commission within 60 business days, as Gov. Code 66317 requires. A unit that does not meet the objective standards may instead seek a conditional use permit under 17.37.100 (an optional path, not a requirement). The ADU permit fee on the city's application form (Rev. 05/25) is $1,160.

Chapter 17.37 bars renting any ADU or JADU for less than 30 days regardless of when it was built, and the STR chapter (Ord. 1945, 2020) defines a short-term rental as 30 consecutive days or less and says an ADU shall not be used as one, so leases must run longer than 30 days; that satisfies the longer-than-30-days rule Gov. Code 66323(e) and 66333(g) impose for state-exempt units and JADUs. STR permits (Administrative Use Permit, business license, transient occupancy tax) go only to hosted or un-hosted stays in the host's primary residence, and vacation rentals are prohibited. ADUs and JADUs cannot be sold separately except under Gov. Code 66341; Upland has not opted into 66342 ADU condominiums, and Ord. 2009 repealed the annual rent-reporting rule. From 10-14-2026 a bonus ADU or JADU must be deed-restricted for at least 10 years as affordable to lower-income households at a rent not exceeding 80 percent of Area Median Income.