The BREAKDOWN: County of Santa Cruz ADU Regulations
Hello from Bri Steel, Broker/Realtor® & Owner of Live Love Santa Cruz!
If you are planning on building an ADU on your property there are a few things you should consider before embarking on the project. The County of Santa Cruz has a well-known housing shortage, and the county department has become much more supportive of folks wanting to build ADUs. The State of California and the County of Santa Cruz have made a lot of recent changes to the rules and regulations of building ADUs and the rules and fees associated with them have become much more reasonable. I recently built my ADU, pictured below. It was a year and a half project. The design took me about 4 months, the permitting process took 4 months, and the build took about 10 months. It was a lot of work but I LOVE my ADU, it’s such a great addition to my property. If you have the resources and stamina to go on this journey, I would highly recommend it. Below is information that I found when starting to do my research. I wanted to put it in one blog post for you in hopes that it may make your research a tad easier!
Santa Cruz County ADU Overview
Definition of an ADU: In legal and regulatory contexts, a secondary house or apartment that shares the building lot with a bigger main home is called an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). Although the unit cannot be purchased or sold independently, it is frequently used to house a relative or generate extra income through rental payments. Used most frequently for short-term rentals (STRs).
Overview Of ADU Regulations
ADUs are permitted on any parcel where a primary residence is either already present or is being considered and where the zoning district or General Plan permits residential uses.
Types Of ADUs Permitted
They can be junior or standard ADUs, attached or separate from the main house, new building, or renovations of existing spaces.
State Laws
On January 1, 2020, the Santa Cruz County Code was revised to comply with state law standards, including AB 68, AB 587, AB 881, and SB 13. These regulations deal with issues like streamlined ADU reviews, lower fees, softer development standards, less stringent parking specifications, Junior ADUs (JADUs), Multifamily Dwelling ADUs, Owner Occupancy Requirements, Short-Term Rentals, Nonconformities, Code Enforcement, and Separate Sale of ADUs.
Structure Legality
Property owners can apply for the County's Safe Structures Program to legitimize ADUs in unpermitted buildings that don't comply with the current building code. Only buildings that are legally built can be converted to ADUs. Illegal buildings with ADUs addons will be subjected to new contraction regulations.
Sewage Requirements
Sewer laterals or septics on parcels may need to be updated; speak with the Environmental Health Service for more information.
Short Term Rentals
Short-term leases (rentals of less than 30 days) are not allowed on properties with ADUs. Consequently, homes with ADUs are ineligible for the County's hosted or vacation rental programs.
Permits Necessary
Most ADUs only need a construction permit, which is reviewed online through the County's ePlan system. Applications for ADU construction permits are examined 60 days after submission. Before a building permit can be granted, an additional review might be necessary for certain modifications to non-conforming homes or ADUs in a coastal zone.
Number Of ADUs Allowed
Parcels with single-family dwellings: A maximum of one ADU and one JADU are permitted on parcels with single-family homes. The multifamily building rule may apply if both an ADU and JADU are planned to be attached to a single-family home.
Parcels with multifamily dwellings: Two detached ADUs, which may be connected to one another, are permitted on a multi-family property, and up to 25% of the units may have an ADU created out of previously unusable space, such as a garage or storage area.
Parcels with non-conforming density: One or more existing dwelling units are deemed "non-conforming" on parcels where the density permitted on the property by the General Plan exceeds the number of existing dwelling units. The number of ADUs permitted depends on the particular non-conforming situation.
ADU Size
JADU (Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit): Minimum 150 square feet, maximum 500 square feet.
Conversion ADUs: Minimum 150 square feet, no maximum size.
New Construction ADU: Minimum 150 square feet, maximum based on parcel size (see Types of ADUs).
Use this tool to find out your ADU size.
Parking
Parking is not required for Conversion ADUs or JADUs. Therefore, property owners converting garages to ADUs do not need to replace lost parking spaces except in some coastal regions.
New Construction ADUs must have one new parking spot, with the exception of the following exceptions: historic districts, within one block of designated car-share parking, and within half a mile of any transit stop (except in designated coastal areas ).
Coastal Parking Regulations.There are no exceptions to the one parking space requirement for new ADU construction in the Live Oak Designated Area (LODA), Seacliff/Aptos/La Selva Designated Area (SALSDA), Davenport/Swanton Designated Area (DASDA), and Opal Cliff Drive between 41st Ave and the City of Capitola. Replacement parking is also necessary when existing parking is destroyed or converted to construct an ADU.
Building Envelope
New Construction ADUs have special setbacks and height standards that define the building envelope for these structures. Check this link to learn more about it in detail.
Fees And Waivers. The style of ADU and parcel location affect the permits, plans, and other service fees. ADU design can affect fee costs to the degree that fees depend on unit size, the number of bedrooms, or project valuation. For ADUs, some fees are either waived or lowered.
Find out more details about the fees and waivers at this link.
Take Away!
I hope this has helped you in your decision to build an ADU. If you need more information, please do not hesitate to reach out!
At Live Love Santa Cruz we bring a fresh and innovative “boutique” approach to real estate in the Santa Cruz area. In the process, we make dreams come true.
Looking to sell? We will make your home SHINE. Listings like ours that are beautifully presented and professionally inspected sell faster and for more money.
Looking to buy? We help our clients write offers that WIN. We are competitors at heart and negotiators at work. We get results.
Call or email us to set up an appointment with our broker and owner, Bri Steel.
Bri Steel
Broker/Realtor® + Owner
Live Love Santa Cruz
831.200.6338
bri@livelovesantacruz.com
Bri Steel at the Live Love Santa Cruz office with her two mini Aussies Kiwi and Fiji.
