City Council adopts zoning text amendments to allow tiny homes on wheels and update ADU rules

The Fresno City Council on June 12 approved a text and plan amendment (P25-00996) that allows tiny homes on wheels to be used as primary homes, revises accessory dwelling unit (ADU) regulations to match state law, and lowers the minimum density in the RMMH (mobile home) zone from 12 to 8 dwelling units per acre.

The changes are the first package of zoning updates staff said are needed to implement the city's recently adopted housing element and to maintain the city's pro-housing designation. "This is the first package of text amendments that will come before you to accomplish three primary tasks," planner Casey Lauderdale told council during a detailed presentation of the six topic areas the amendment addresses.

Why it matters: the amendments are intended to reduce barriers to housing development across several fronts: providing an explicit path for tiny homes on wheels to be treated the same as manufactured homes, updating ADU references and standards to reflect state preemption and new state rules, clarifying agricultural labor housing as an allowable use where crop cultivation is permitted, and aligning the mobile-home (RMMH) district density standard with existing park conditions.

What changed: city staff said the package makes six main changes: 1) add tiny homes on wheels as an allowed manufactured-home type for use as a primary dwelling; 2) update manufactured-home placement and orientation rules to be consistent with state law; 3) replace 'single-family' and 'multi-family' terminology with 'single-unit' and 'multi-unit'; 4) explicitly list agricultural labor housing in the municipal code's use tables; 5) reduce the RMMH minimum density from 12 to 8 units per acre to match existing parks; and 6) update the ADU section to reflect state law and add clarity on allowable sizes, conversions and parking.

Planner Casey Lauderdale said staff will submit the adopted ADU changes to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for review if the council adopts them. "We are proposing to add subsection E to our manufactured housing section so that a tiny house on wheels could be considered as a manufactured home and therefore used as a primary dwelling unit," Lauderdale said in her presentation.

Public input and committee review: staff said the proposition was routed to neighborhood District Review Committees and the Tower Design Review Committee. Staff reported no written public comments received at the time of the hearing; district committees raised questions about tiny homes on wheels, impacts on infrastructure and fees, and design in historic districts. The Planning Commission had recommended approval.

Council discussion focused on implementation details and neighborhood impacts. Council members asked staff whether the change would require mailing addresses for tiny homes used as primary units, how parking requirements would interact with older neighborhoods with limited off-street parking, what protections exist for sites near industrial uses, and how the city will develop objective design standards for ADUs in historic districts. Staff said they are working with the Historic Preservation Commission on objective design guidance and expect the related package later in the year.

Council action: Council voted to adopt the environmental finding and approve the text and plan amendments. The ordinance and corresponding plan change passed unanimously (7-0). Staff will forward ADU changes to HCD and will return to council with follow-up code work on design standards.

What the vote did not do: the council's action did not create a new subsidy program or guarantee construction of tiny-home developments; instead the vote revised how certain housing types can be regulated and permitted under Fresno's municipal code. Staff and multiple council members emphasized that additional guidance (for example design standards for historic districts) will come in a later package.

Looking ahead: staff said the ADU and tiny-home changes are intended to remove legal barriers and to provide clarity to both residents and developers. Councilmembers asked staff to monitor parking impacts in older neighborhoods and to report back if enforcement or other measures are needed.