ADU rules in Ventura

Ventura allows ADUs on any lot in a residential or mixed-use zone (SBMC 24.430.050(A)(1)). On a lot with a proposed or existing single-family home, one detached new-construction ADU of up to 800 sq ft with 4-ft side and rear setbacks needs only a building permit (24.430.040(A)(2)), and a larger detached unit is built to the local standards of 24.430.060 (850 sq ft studio or one bedroom, 1,200 sq ft with two or more bedrooms, one story). A lot with an existing multifamily building may add up to eight detached ADUs (never more than its existing units), or two with a proposed multifamily building (24.430.040(A)(4)). In very high fire hazard severity zones only the state-exempt Gov. Code 66323 units and JADUs are allowed (24.430.050(K)), and lots in the coastal zone also need a coastal exemption, exclusion or coastal development permit, issued without a public hearing (24.430.040(B)(1)).

Attached ADUs (additions sharing a wall with the home) and conversions of space inside a proposed or existing home or accessory structure are allowed in every residential and mixed-use zone (24.430.050(A)(1)). A conversion ADU and a JADU inside a single-family home, or an ADU in an existing accessory structure with up to 150 sq ft added for ingress and egress, need only a building permit (24.430.040(A)(1)); a JADU of up to 500 sq ft must sit within a single-family structure, an attached garage included, on a lot zoned for single-family homes (24.430.020; 24.430.050(A)(2)). On multifamily lots, ADUs may be converted from non-livable space such as storage rooms, attics, basements or garages, at least one and up to 25 percent of the existing units (24.430.040(A)(3)). Attached additions follow the local standards (50 percent of the home, 25 ft, two stories) and are barred in very high fire hazard severity zones, where conversions under Gov. Code 66323 and JADUs remain allowed (24.430.050(K)).

Under 24.430.060(A) an ADU built to local standards may be 850 sq ft as a studio or one-bedroom unit and 1,200 sq ft with two or more bedrooms, and an attached ADU on a lot with an existing home is further limited to 50 percent of the home's floor area; neither that percentage nor floor area ratio, front setback, lot coverage or open space rules may push an ADU below 800 sq ft (060(A)(3)). Local-standards ADUs also count against site coverage (35 percent in R-1, 40 percent in R-1-B, 60 percent in R-2, R-2-B, R-3 and other zones), keep 4-ft side and rear setbacks plus the zone's front setback, and a detached one may have only one story (060(B), (C), (E)). The building-permit-only state-exempt detached unit is capped at 800 sq ft with 4-ft setbacks, and conversions stay inside existing or proposed space plus up to 150 sq ft for ingress and egress (040(A)(1)-(2)). Detached ADUs may be 18 ft tall, or 20 ft where needed to align with the primary dwelling's roof pitch, and attached ADUs 25 ft and two stories (050(B)); a 22-ft two-story detached ADU needed a minor variance, granted at the 4-13-2026 Director's Hearing (PROJ-26-1038, Res. CD-2026-22). Inside the coastal zone the text the Coastal Commission certified on 2-6-2026 is the urgency Ord. 2024-13 wording, which caps two-plus-bedroom local-standards units at 1,000 sq ft rather than 1,200.

ADUs created on or after 1-1-2020 carry no owner-occupancy requirement (SBMC 24.430.050(G)(1)), as Gov. Code 66315 requires. The code still says that 'as required by state law, all JADUs are subject to an owner occupancy requirement' (a natural person with title must make the main home or the JADU a legal domicile, unless a government agency, land trust or housing organization owns the property; 050(G)(2)), but since 1-1-2026 Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154 allows owner occupancy only where the JADU shares sanitation facilities with the home, so a JADU with its own bathroom needs no owner on site. The city FAQ and ADU page still describe owner occupancy for every JADU property. The deed restriction each ADU or JADU must record before occupancy covers separate sale and the unit's approved size and attributes, not occupancy (050(H)).

SBMC 24.430.050(N)(1)-(2) requires no parking for ADUs or JADUs and no replacement of a garage, carport, covered or uncovered space demolished or converted for one. The exception is the ADU Mandatory Parking Area (AMPA) mapped in Exhibits 1 and 2 of Ord. 2024-012: Downtown (roughly Poli Street south to the US-101 corridor, from about Garden Street east past California Street) and Pierpont (the beach strip and Ventura Keys between the ocean and Harbor Boulevard). There one space is required for the ADU or JADU on top of the home's parking, and spaces displaced by demolition or conversion must be replaced on the lot (050(N)(3)); the space may be tandem on a driveway, covered or uncovered, 9 by 20 ft, but not in required yards or open space (050(N)(4)). The Coastal Commission certified the AMPA in 2024 and kept it in 2026 to protect beach-access parking, and Gov. Code 66329(a) preserves Coastal Act standards for ADUs, so the rule stands against 66314(d)(10)-(11), 66322 and 66323(b); for JADUs, 66334(a) bars added parking and the JADU article has no coastal carve-out. Staff applied the split in April 2026: no parking for an inland R-1-7 ADU, and a third garage space for a Pierpont ADU.

An ADU or JADU in one of the state-exempt scenarios that meets the general requirements of 24.430.050 is allowed with only a building permit (24.430.040(A)), and every other ADU likewise needs a building permit showing compliance with 24.430.050 and 24.430.060 (040(B)(3)). The city must approve or deny a complete application within 60 days or it is deemed approved, and a denial must list the deficient items (040(C)). In the coastal zone an ADU or JADU also needs a coastal exemption, coastal exclusion (one- or two-unit residential work outside the appeal zone takes a zoning clearance under 24.515.050(B)(10)) or coastal development permit, processed under Chapter 24.515 without a public hearing (040(B)(1)); Gov. Code 66329(c) (AB 462, effective 10-10-2025) ends Coastal Commission appeals of those decisions, although 040(B)(1) and 24.515.130 still describe them. Discretionary routes exist only as options: a conditional use permit for an ADU that misses the objective standards (24.430.090) or a variance; on 4-13-2026 the Director's Hearing granted a minor variance for a 22-ft two-story detached ADU (Res. CD-2026-22) and a coastal development permit with a lot-coverage variance for a Pierpont ADU over a new garage (Res. CD-2026-21).

SBMC 24.430.050(D) bars renting any ADU or JADU for a term shorter than 30 days 'regardless of when the ADU or JADU was created', and Gov. Code 66323(e) and 66333(g) require terms longer than 30 days for state-exempt units and JADUs. Short-term vacation rentals (stays of 30 consecutive days or less) and homestays need a city permit, and 6.455.070(B)(7) (Ord. 2024-009, 12-10-2024) bars permits for 'any accessory dwelling unit (ADU), junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU), or other dwelling unit(s) on the same lot with an ADU or JADU', so on a lot with an ADU neither the house nor the ADU can be rented by the night; the city STVR page says such properties may be rented only for terms longer than 30 days. Chapter 6.455 reached the coastal zone through LCP-4-SBV-25-0043-1 (Commission action 3-11-2026, accepted by Ord. 2026-008 on 5-12-2026; 6.455.010, 24.499.010), and the ADU chapter's own rental-term limit already applied there. An ADU or JADU may not be sold separately except under Gov. Code 66341, a recorded deed restriction says so (050(E), (H)), and the code offers no 66342 condominium path.