The Richmond Planning Commission on July 17 voted 3-0 to recommend that the City Council adopt zoning text amendments to Richmond Municipal Code sections related to accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs) (PLN25-19).

Michelle Morris, senior planner for the City of Richmond’s Community Development Department, presented the amendments and told commissioners the changes are intended to bring the municipal code into compliance with recent state law. Morris said the Community Development Department had received a letter from the California Department of Housing and Community Development in October 2024 outlining required updates.

Morris summarized key provisions of the proposed amendments: updated height limits for detached and attached ADUs (including typical minimum/maximum thresholds of about 16, 18 and up to 25 feet depending on transit proximity and attachment), a prohibition on requiring replacement of covered parking demolished for an ADU, limits on short-term rentals (ADUs may not be rented for fewer than 30 days), and owner-occupancy requirements for properties with a JADU except where the owner is a government agency, land trust or housing organization. She also said the city has prepared an ADU guidebook and a set of preapproved construction plans to streamline the permitting process.

On processing timeframes, Morris said the city will maintain ministerial review: the approval or disapproval of a completed ADU application must be made within 60 days, and applications that use preapproved detached ADU plans that meet the stated government code requirements must be approved within 30 days of receiving a completed application. The staff presentation referenced state legislation including Senate Bill 477, Assembly Bill 2533 and Senate Bill 1211, and cited the government-code provision for expedited review of preapproved plans discussed in the presentation.

A commissioner asked whether the ADU height standards were coastal-local or state-derived; Morris said the height and related standards are “straight out of the state code.” She noted the city could choose to set higher local limits but that staff had adopted the state thresholds. Commissioners confirmed with staff that the ordinance amendment itself is exempt from CEQA review and that ADUs are treated as small structures that are generally exempt, though Morris did not cite a specific CEQA exemption number at the hearing.

Morris said the city’s preapproved ADU plans, prepared with consultant Opticos, had recently received final building-department stamps and are available on the city’s ADU webpage; she encouraged use of the guidebook and described outreach that will include a stakeholder workshop in early September tied to the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Richmond Rising program.

The commission adopted a resolution recommending approval of the zoning-text amendments and recorded a unanimous roll-call vote in favor. The matter will proceed to the City Council for final adoption.