Elk Grove, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

050, junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs), built entirely within the walls of an existing single-family home and capped at 500 square feet, come with a distinct owner-occupancy string attached that full-size ADUs in the city do not. Subsection (G) states plainly that either the primary dwelling unit or the JADU must be occupied by the property owner, and that requirement is waived only if the owner is a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization. The city backs this with a recording requirement: a deed restriction must be placed against the single-family residence containing the disclosure information required by California Government Code § 66333(c), so the condition runs with the land and shows up in a title search, not just in a planning file.

A JADU can never be sold separately from the primary house, and only one JADU is allowed per single-family lot. 040 (the standard ADU chapter) contains no owner-occupancy clause at all, reflecting the 2020 state law change (AB 68) that stripped owner-occupancy mandates for regular ADUs statewide; Elk Grove's code tracks that removal rather than reimposing it locally. JADUs also get a parking break: no additional off-street parking is required beyond what already serves the primary home. Applicants pursue a JADU through the same building-permit process as an ADU, administered by the Community Development Department, and the deed restriction must be recorded before final building permit sign-off.

Owners who occupy neither unit, or who sell a JADU apart from the house, are out of compliance with the recorded restriction, which the city and, potentially, the housing organization holding the restriction can enforce through code enforcement or breach-of-restriction action.