SOLANA BEACH — The Solana Beach City Council updated the city’s ordinance regulating accessory dwelling units to incorporate changes under 14 recent state laws, ranging from cleanup items to major changes.
The most significant update to the ordinance comes from Government Code 66323, which discusses the ability to add specifically converted ADUs, referring to spaces such as garages, sheds, attics, or basements that are then turned into permitted ADUs as opposed to newly-constructed units.
Government Code 66323 allows single-family lots to have one converted junior ADU within the walls of the primary residence, one converted ADU, and one detached ADU for a total of three ADUs.
State law previously allowed a single-family lot to contain one converted junior ADU and one detached ADU, in addition to the primary dwelling.
On May 6, Solana Beach leaders moved to, in the words of City Councilmember Dave Zito, “begrudgingly” adopt the new regulations. Council members noted that they are required to implement them to abide by the law.
“It’s annoying when the state gets so anal and in our way. This is going to make life complicated,” Zito said.
The new ordinance incorporates language from several state bills between 2019 and 2026, including: Senate Bill 13, SB 897, Assembly Bill 68, AB 345, AB 881, AB 2221, AB 3182, AB 976, SB 477, AB 130, AB 462, AB 1154, SB 9, and SB 543.
These laws updated regulations related to setbacks, owner occupancy in junior ADUs (defined as those measuring no more than 500 square feet), impact fees, and ADUs in multifamily developments.
In accordance with these laws, the ordinance now states that ADUs are permitted ministerially in accordance with adopted development standards; that ADUs may be permitted on properties with multifamily dwellings; and that impact fees, which are charged on new developments to cover the cost of additional impacts on local infrastructure, cannot be imposed on ADUs that measure 750 square feet or less.
Impact fees must also be calculated based solely on the interior floor space of the ADU, according to state law.
In addition, AB 1154 now states that junior ADUs need not be owner-occupied if they have their own bathroom. Cities could previously limit occupancy of all junior ADUs to the legal owner of the primary dwelling.
The ordinance also recognizes that local laws cannot prevent the permitting of an 800-square-foot ADU with four-foot side and rear setbacks.
While ADU laws are intended to facilitate the creation of more housing, Solana Beach leaders said the state has taken away the tools that allowed cities to build affordable ADUs.
Solana Beach used to offer incentives, such as additional square footage, if applicants agreed to deed-restrict their ADU as affordable. However, these incentives became moot under new state laws that removed even more restrictions on ADU production.
“The purpose of all this is supposedly to solve our affordable housing crisis, yet none of their laws mandate affordability, and they’ve taken away any of the incentives that we might have offered in order to get an affordability deed restriction,” said Mayor Lesa Heebner.
Solana Beach is relying heavily on ADUs to help meet its 6th Cycle Housing Element obligations and has implemented various programs to help facilitate their production.
As a result, the city is well ahead of schedule in generating ADUs, having permitted around 80% of the total units required by the end of the 6th cycle in 2029. However, the city still has a long way to go toward meeting the required number of affordable units in its Housing Element.
“Even with the number of ADUs 30% higher than what were anticipated by [Housing and Community Development] in cycle six, the city is still at risk of midcycle punishment by HCD, which is just unfortunate,” City Councilmember Jewel Edson said.
