ADU rules in West Jordan

Detached ADUs (DADUs) are permitted only on platted lots of 10,000 square feet or larger in the R-1, RR, RE, PC, LSFR and VLSFR zones, although the residential use table's footnote narrows the R-1 entry to the R-1-10, R-1-12 and R-1-14 subzones. They are also allowed on parcels or platted lots of 10,000 square feet or more in the A-1, A-5 and A-20 agricultural zones, on detached single-family lots in the HO zone, and in the PCH hillside zone only above a garage on a lot the subdivision plat designates for an ADU. Each DADU needs a permanent foundation, a footprint smaller than the house, a 20-foot height cap, and Design Review Committee approval of its design and materials. Utah Code 10-21-304, in force since 10-1-2026, requires West Jordan (a first-class city) to adopt a regulation permitting a detached ADU on any lot of 11,000 square feet or more that holds a permitted single-family home; the city had not amended its code as of 10-21-2026, so lots in zones such as R-2, R-3 and PRD remain excluded on paper.

Internal ADUs (inside the existing house, such as a basement apartment) are governed by Utah Code 10-21-303, which makes them a permitted use in areas zoned primarily for residential use; the city's use tables list them as permitted in the R-1, RR, RE, PRD, PC, VLSFR, LSFR, agricultural and HO zones. Only one ADU is allowed per property, internal or detached, never both. ADUs are not allowed with multi-family dwellings, mobile homes or any form of attached housing, or where the house is served by a septic tank. If a building permit for a home addition is filed together with the license to rent an internal ADU, the enlarged footprint counts as the house's footprint for 10-21-303 purposes.

The city code sets no numeric floor-area cap. A detached ADU's footprint must be smaller than the principal building's footprint, it may cover no more than 20% of the rear and side yard, and the lot stays subject to the zone's maximum building coverage; every ADU must remain subordinate and accessory to the house. Detached units are capped at 20 feet tall, with an extra foot of side and rear setback for each foot above 17 feet. Internal ADU size is left to Utah Code 10-21-303, which bars cities from restricting it relative to the size of the primary dwelling.

Owner occupancy is not an absolute prerequisite, but it controls how the property may be rented: if the owner of record lives in either the house or the ADU as a primary residence, the other unit may be rented out. If the owner lives in neither, the owner may rent the house and ADU together as a single unit or rent only one of them, but may not rent both separately at the same time. These options are stated as subject to Utah Code 10-21-303, and renting either unit requires a business license.

The ADU needs at least one off-street parking space of 9 by 18 feet, paved with asphalt or concrete, in addition to the spaces the house already requires; it may not be tandem with or block the house's required parking, and the house must keep its own minimum parking, including a required two-car garage. A required attached garage may be converted to an ADU only if the two-car garage is replaced on the property. The city's ADU application adds that the space must sit beside the driveway, beside the house or in the backyard, that the existing driveway does not count, and that paving may not exceed 50% of the required front yard. One space is within the caps of Utah Code 10-21-304 (one space under 650 square feet, two at 650 or more), but the tandem ban sits uneasily with 10-20-618(4)(b), which bars a specified municipality from refusing to count an unobstructed tandem space toward a minimum parking requirement.

In most zones ADUs are listed as permitted uses and approved administratively, with no conditional use permit: the owner files a business license application with Planning and Zoning and Building and Safety certifications plus a notarized Notice of Acknowledgement, which must be recorded with the Salt Lake County Recorder before approval. Detached ADUs also need a building permit and Design Review Committee approval of design and materials, and that committee reviews individual detached ADU permits at its public meetings. The exception is the PCH hillside zone, where an external ADU on a plat-designated lot is an administrative conditional use, a requirement Utah Code 10-21-304(3)(a) now bars in primarily residential zones.

The city's ADU application (also published as its ADU web page) requires the ADU to be rented for at least 30 consecutive days, bans short-term rentals of 30 days or less, prohibits sub-leasing, and limits occupancy to one family or five unrelated adults; the city treats noncompliance as grounds to deny the business license. The 30-day rule is an application certification, not ordinance text: 13-5B-8 is silent on rental term, and the zoning use tables list short-term rental as a permitted use in residential zones under a 4-2R-4 license. Renting either unit requires a business license. State law would let the city adopt such a floor (Utah Code 10-21-303(3)(i) allows barring internal ADU rentals under 30 days, and 10-21-304(4)(b)(iv) detached ADU rentals under 90 days).