Fillmore council approves first reading of ADU ordinance updates amid fire-safety questions

The Fillmore City Council on May 26 voted to introduce Ordinance 26-995, a zoning amendment designed to update the city's rules on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior ADUs to meet recent state requirements.

City planning staff said the ordinance implements changes required by state bills adopted over the past year, including clarifications on how floor area is measured (interior livable space), combinations of ADU types allowed on a lot, and exemptions or limits on development impact fees for small units. The draft ordinance clarifies that junior ADUs (JADUs) under 500 square feet cannot be required to install fire sprinklers where the primary residence does not require them, that JADUs sharing sanitation must meet owner-occupancy rules, and that JADUs may not be used as short-term rentals.

During council discussion members pressed staff about local restrictions that had previously limited ADUs in areas mapped as very high fire hazard severity zones. Staff explained the city previously adopted local health-and-safety findings for those zones and is keeping those findings in place pending Housing and Community Development (HCD) review; the item will be sent to HCD and the city will consider any required changes after that review. Staff also reported the city issued 61 ADU permits in the past five years and that a prior sewer-capacity constraint in North Fillmore was partially relieved by developer work at Creekide; a comprehensive sewer master-plan update is underway.

The planning commission recommended unanimous approval and the council, after opening and closing the public hearing with no public speakers, voted unanimously to approve the ordinance's first reading and a CEQA exemption.

What happens next: the ordinance will proceed through the statutory process and will be transmitted to HCD for consistency review. Any HCD comments would require council action to amend the code if needed.