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Martinez adopts urgency changes to ADU rules to align with state guidance
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Summary
The council approved an urgency ordinance to amend city ADU rules after receiving comments from the California Department of Housing and Community Development; changes include clarifying state-exempt ADUs, adjusting counts allowed per lot, removing non-objective visibility restrictions and updating height/parking rules.
Martinez City Council on March 18 adopted an urgency ordinance to update local accessory dwelling unit (ADU) regulations to reflect recent state law and guidance from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Planning staff summarized eight items raised by HCD, including statutory numbering fixes and a requirement to allow different configurations of ADUs on single-family lots. Staff said state law requires permitting one attached ADU, one detached ADU and one junior ADU per single-family property in many cases, increasing the total the city must allow in certain scenarios. HCD also questioned the city’s ability to limit ADU stories rather than setting objective height limits; staff proposed removing story-based restrictions and relying on maximum height in feet consistent with state law.
Other changes include clarifying parking exceptions, removing a non-objective prohibition on exterior staircases visible from the right of way, and updating ADU bonus programs and allowances on religious-institution sites. Staff told council they had recently discussed these items with HCD and proposed the urgency ordinance to ensure local code alignment.
Council voted to adopt the urgency ordinance amending chapters 22.04, 22.43 and 22.84 to reflect these changes. Staff will submit adopted amendments to HCD and work through any follow-up comments.
What’s next: staff will finalize code amendments, incorporate any outstanding HCD feedback and return with implementing language and notifications to the public.
