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Medford committee outlines ADU ordinance updates to align with new state ADU law; committee discusses scope, special permits and enforcement
Summary
City planning staff and consultant Paola Ramos Martinez briefed the Planning and Permitting Committee on mandatory changes under the new state ADU law and options Medford must still decide, including where ADUs will be allowed beyond single‑family districts, whether second ADUs require special permits, and short‑term rental rules.
Medford City Council Planning and Permitting Committee members reviewed mandatory and optional changes to the city’s accessory dwelling unit (ADU) zoning on March 12, 2025, after the state adopted new ADU regulations and a model zoning template. Paola Ramos Martinez of Innis Associates summarized the statutory protections now attached to ADUs and outlined choices the city must make when updating its ordinance.
Nut graf: The new state rules make ADUs a protected use in single‑family residential districts and narrow the scope of local regulation, but cities retain choices on whether to allow ADUs in other residential districts, how to treat multiple ADUs on a lot, maximum ADU size above the state minimum, which municipal body grants special permits for additional ADUs, and whether ADUs can be used as short‑term rentals.
Ramos Martinez described the state limitations she reviewed for the committee: municipalities cannot require owner occupancy for a protected ADU; cannot impose discretionary zoning approvals (special permits, waivers, variances) as a condition for a…
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