Pleasant Hill introduces ADU ordinance updates to align with 2025 state law; council asks about height and flexibility

The Pleasant Hill City Council held a public hearing and introduced amendments on April 6 to the city's accessory dwelling unit (ADU) regulations to reflect 2025 state law changes and to codify an earlier urgency ordinance.

Staff summarized the principal changes: ADU size measurement will use interior livable area; the law now allows combinations of different ADU types in some circumstances but maintains constraints between "class 1" (conversions, JADUs, small detached units) and "class 2" (attached ADUs or larger detached ADUs); deed restriction requirements for many ADUs were removed; and the city proposed removing evergreen trees as an acceptable option for landscape screening to ensure emergency-access clearances.

Councilmembers asked detailed questions about ADU height allowances, whether property owners on small infill lots could add an attached second-story ADU if there's no room for a detached unit, and how the city could provide parity for lot-to-lot differences. Staff noted state law limits on how many unit types can be combined and suggested that in unique cases the city's use-permit process could be used to consider modest departures based on findings, rather than rewriting the entire code to exceed state limits.

A public commenter thanked the council for earlier autism acceptance remarks and urged affordable, accessible supports; the ADU item then was introduced by motion and second and advanced for formal adoption steps.