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Council introduces zoning-code amendments to align ADU rules with state law; ordinances set for Jan. 21 vote
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Summary
Laguna Niguel staff presented ZCA 24-1001 (ADU/JADU rules) and ZCA 24-1002 (gateway specific plan revisions) as required by state housing mandates. The council unanimously introduced Ordinance Nos. 2024-232 and 2024-233 and directed staff to place the ordinances on the Jan. 21, 2025 agenda for adoption.
City planning staff told the Laguna Niguel City Council on Dec. 17 that proposed zoning-code amendments would align the city's accessory dwelling unit (ADU) and junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU) regulations and certain Gateway Specific Plan provisions with recent state mandates.
Senior Planner Erica Race summarized the administrative background and timeline: the city's housing element was adopted in December 2023 and HCD (the California Department of Housing and Community Development) found it substantially compliant in February 2024, subject to timely implementation of housing-element programs. Race said HCD provided additional direction in August 2024 regarding the city's ADU and JADU ordinance, and the governor signed three new ADU-related bills in September 2024 that take effect Jan. 1, 2025. "Attachment B of the staff report is a redline indicating the proposed revisions of the city's current ADU and JADU ordinance," Race said, and she outlined that changes to the Gateway Specific Plan would require public-benefit provisions for developments exceeding 50 dwelling units per acre (for example, 5% very-low-income or 10% low-income units).
Race recommended that council find ZCA 24-1001 and ZCA 24-1002 exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under the cited categorical exemptions and statutory provisions, introduce Ordinance Nos. 2024-232 and 2024-233 by title, and place the ordinances on the Jan. 21, 2025 council agenda for public hearing and adoption.
A councilmember moved to accept the staff recommendation and read the statutory findings and ordinance titles into the record; the motion carried unanimously. The introductions set the formal public-review and adoption timeline: the ordinances will be on the Jan. 21, 2025 agenda for adoption.
The amendments respond to state directives and do not, according to staff, establish new local policy beyond ensuring the city's compliance with state ADU law and housing-element commitments.
