Daly City cannot require ADU owner occupancy. California Gov. Code 65852.2(a)(8) prohibits local agencies from imposing owner-occupancy requirements on any ADU permitted between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2024, and AB 976 (2023) made this permanent for all ADUs going forward. Junior ADUs (JADUs) under Gov. Code 65852.22 still require owner occupancy of one of the units, but SB 543 (eff. Jan. 1, 2026) narrowed this to JADUs that share sanitation facilities with the main house. Daly City's older DCMC 17.40.100 owner-occupancy language is superseded by state law.
Daly City's pre-2020 'secondary unit' ordinance required that 'occupancy of one of the two units shall be the owner(s) of record.' That requirement is no longer enforceable for ADUs. Cal. Gov. Code 65852.2(a)(8) prohibited owner-occupancy mandates for ADUs permitted between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2024, and AB 976 (Stats. 2023, ch. 754) made the prohibition permanent for all subsequent ADU permits. The Daly City ADU Guide acknowledges this, stating that local rules in conflict with state ADU law are superseded. For Junior ADUs (JADUs - up to 500 sq ft converted from existing space within a single-family home), owner occupancy of one of the units (either the main house or the JADU) is still required under Gov. Code 65852.22, but SB 543 (effective Jan. 1, 2026) narrowed this so that owner occupancy is only required when the JADU shares sanitation facilities with the main house. The owner-occupancy rule, where it applies to a JADU, must be recorded as a deed restriction against the property. Investor-owned ADUs with neither the main house nor the ADU occupied by the owner are now expressly allowed in Daly City.
Because state law preempts owner-occupancy for ADUs, Daly City cannot enforce its older 17.40.100 owner-occupancy language against new permits. For JADUs that still require owner occupancy under state law, violation of the recorded deed restriction can trigger Notice of Violation and recordation of a Notice of Non-Compliance against the title.
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