ADU rules in Visalia

Detached ADUs are allowed by right with an existing or proposed home: VMC 17.14.040 (Ord. 2024-15, effective about 2-20-2025) allows ADUs ministerially 'in any zone which allows residential uses', naming the A, OS, single-family R-1, R-1-12.5 and R-1-20 (collectively R-S since Ord. 2025-15), R-M-2 and R-M-3 zones plus the C-N, C-R, C-S, C-MU, D-MU, O-PA, O-C, BRP, I-L and I zones, and Table 17.25.030 row R40 marks ADUs and JADUs 'P' in all ten commercial, office and industrial zones on a lot with an existing primary residence. On a single-family lot 17.14.070(A) allows one new-construction ADU (attached or detached) beside one conversion ADU and one JADU, and a new detached unit needs only 4-foot side and rear setbacks, with the zone's front setback yielding where it would block an 800 sq ft unit (17.14.090(D)(3)). Lots with a multifamily building may add detached ADUs, but 17.14.070(B)(2) caps them at two while Gov. Code 66323(a)(4)(A)(ii) allows up to eight beside an existing multifamily building (never more than its existing units), and the 17.14.070(E) four-units-per-lot cap cannot be applied against those state allowances (66325). On SB 9 urban-lot-split parcels ADUs and JADUs count toward the two-unit limit (17.14.070(D)).

Attached additions and conversions are allowed wherever detached units are: 17.14.060 defines attached ADUs (new space sharing a wall, floor or ceiling with the primary dwelling) and converted ADUs (space inside the existing home or an accessory structure, including attached garages, storage areas, studios or pool houses), and 17.14.070(A)(2) lets a single-family lot add one conversion ADU besides the new-construction unit and a JADU, mirroring Gov. Code 66323(a)(1)-(2). Conversions need exterior access, may expand up to 150 sq ft for ingress and egress, and need no side or rear setback and no added parking (17.14.100). Multifamily buildings may convert non-livable space (storage rooms, boiler rooms, passageways, attics, basements, garages) into ADUs numbering up to 25 percent of the existing units and never fewer than one (17.14.070(B)(1); 66323(a)(3)). One JADU of up to 500 sq ft is allowed per parcel inside a single-family home or its attached garage on single-family-zoned lots, with an efficiency kitchen and its own exterior entrance (17.14.060(D), 17.14.110). Attached ADUs need 4-foot side and rear setbacks and the primary dwelling's front setback unless that blocks an 800 sq ft unit (17.14.090(D)(1)).

Section 17.14.090(A) caps attached and detached ADUs at 850 sq ft with fewer than two bedrooms and 1,200 sq ft with two or more, and an attached unit may not exceed 50 percent of the primary dwelling's floor area; a new detached ADU sharing the lot with a JADU is limited to 800 sq ft regardless of bedrooms (17.14.090(A)(3)), and converted space has no size cap beyond a 150 sq ft access expansion (17.14.100(A), (E)). Visalia measures from the exterior walls and counts storage areas, mezzanines, lofts and attics of 7 feet or more (17.14.090(A)(4)), while Gov. Code 66321(b)(2)-(3) as amended by SB 543 (effective 1-1-2026) states the state floors in interior livable space: no cap below 850 sq ft (1,000 sq ft with more than one bedroom), and no percentage-of-house, open-space or front-setback rule that blocks an 800 sq ft unit with 4-foot side and rear setbacks. The local text guarantees 800 sq ft only against open-space and front-setback rules (17.14.080(C), 17.14.090(D)), so on a small house the 50 percent attached cap yields to the 800 sq ft state floor, and for a state-exempt detached unit the 800 sq ft limit may be applied only as livable space (66323(a)(2)(A)). JADUs are capped at 500 sq ft with at most a 150 sq ft access expansion (17.14.110(D)). Heights track 66321(b)(4): 16 feet detached, 18 feet within a half mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor plus 2 feet to match the main roof pitch, 18 feet beside a multistory multifamily building, and 25 feet or the zone limit for attached units, never more than two stories (17.14.090(B)).

Visalia imposes no owner occupancy on ADUs: 17.14.080(D) states that 'the property owner is not required to occupy the accessory dwelling unit or primary dwelling located on the parcel', consistent with Gov. Code 66315, which bars an owner-occupant requirement. The repealed pre-2025 second-unit rules (17.12.160(E)) had required a recorded covenant obliging the owner of record to occupy one of the units. For JADUs, 17.14.110(H)(1)(d) still requires a recorded deed restriction under which the owner must live on the site 'for a minimum of three (3) years', for every JADU; since 1-1-2026 Gov. Code 66333(b) as amended by AB 1154 allows owner occupancy only when the JADU shares sanitation facilities with the house, so a JADU with its own bathroom carries no owner-occupancy duty despite the local text. The city's Permit-Ready ADU FAQ (October 2022) still says owner occupancy is required whenever a JADU is present.

Section 17.14.090(C) requires one off-street space for an attached or detached ADU 'in addition to that required for the primary dwelling', covered or uncovered, allowed in tandem and in setback areas (covered spaces may not sit in setbacks). No space is required within one-half mile of public transit, on a property in the Historic Preservation District or with a structure on the Local Register of Historic Structures, for a unit within the existing residence or an existing accessory structure, where on-street permits are required but not offered, or within one block of a car share vehicle (17.14.090(C)(1)); conversions and JADUs need none (17.14.100(D), 17.14.110(F)), and a garage, carport or covered parking demolished or converted for an ADU need not be replaced (17.14.090(C)(4)). State law fills the gaps: Gov. Code 66322(a)(6) also waives parking when the ADU is filed with a new single-family or multifamily dwelling, 66313(m) counts any fixed-route bus stop as public transit, 66314(d)(11) extends the no-replacement rule to uncovered spaces, and 66314(d)(10)(A) caps parking at one space per ADU or per bedroom, whichever is less, so a plain reading leaves studios with none. Units built on the 66323 state-exempt pathway carry no parking requirement because 66323(b) bars standards the section does not authorize, and the citywide parking schedule (17.34.020) has no ADU row.

ADUs and JADUs need only a building permit: 17.14.050(A) requires ministerial approval 'through the building permit process' and a decision within 60 days of a complete application, and 17.14.050(B) lets the city hold an ADU filed with a new home until the home is decided, without discretionary review or hearing, tracking Gov. Code 66317. The city ADU page says staff aim to finish ADU plan checks within 20 calendar days (10 for resubmittals), and the Permit-Ready ADU Program offers three free pre-approved plans (490 sq ft studio, 498 sq ft one-bedroom, 918 sq ft two-bedroom). Before Ord. 2024-15 the repealed 17.12.170 had the City Planner approve or deny second units with appeal to the Planning Commission, and the December 2024 staff report says the city had been applying state law directly because its old ordinance no longer complied. Inside the Historic Preservation District and on Local Register parcels the chapter adds objective in-kind design rules (17.14.090(E)), yet 17.56.050(C)(3) still lets the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee 'approve, modify or disapprove' new construction before a building permit issues: the committee approved a new house, garage and ADU at 709 North Highland Street with design conditions (HPAC Item 2026-01, 1-14-2026), while staff told it on 4-8-2026 that converting an existing structure into an ADU is not subject to its review under state law; Gov. Code 66317(a)(1) requires approval 'without discretionary review or a hearing'.

Section 17.14.080(K) provides that no ADU (JADUs included) 'shall be rented for a term of less than thirty (30) days', a floor Gov. Code 66315 permits for ordinary ADUs, while 66323(e) and 66333(g) require terms longer than 30 days for units built on the state-exempt pathway and for JADUs. The short-term rental rules in 17.32.166, adopted by Ord. 2023-11 (effective 12-6-2023) and amended by Ords. 2024-12 and 2025-15, allow only the habitable interior of a primary dwelling to be rented short term and list accessory dwelling units among the structures that 'are not permissible as short-term rentals' (17.32.166(B)(8)). A primary-dwelling STR needs an administrative STR permit, a business tax certificate and monthly transient occupancy tax remittance, is limited to one per parcel in residential zones, and violations carry fines of up to $100, $200 and then $500, each day counting as a new offense. ADUs may not be sold or conveyed separately from the parcel 'except as provided in Government Code §§ 66340 through 66342' (17.14.080(J)), and JADU deed restrictions bar separate sale (17.14.110(H)(1)(a)); no Gov. Code 66342 condominium ordinance was found, so the cross-reference is not treated as a condo opt-in.