Fresno, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

Section 15-2754(F)(1) of the Citywide Development Code, adopted by Ordinance 2025-024 effective July 27, 2025, draws a clear line between the city's two accessory unit types. For a full Accessory Dwelling Unit, attached, detached, or built within the primary structure with its own kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, owner-occupancy of the property is not required at all, meaning an investor-owned single-unit lot can add and rent out an ADU without living there. A Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit is treated more strictly because it shares space and often sanitation facilities with the main house: the code requires the owner to reside in either the primary residence or the JADU itself.

The only carve-out is when the property owner is a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization, in which case the occupancy requirement is waived entirely. This owner-occupancy rule sits alongside the section's other JADU-specific limits, a 500-square-foot maximum size, the requirement that it be built entirely within a single-unit primary residence (including an attached garage), and its own separate entrance, all aimed at keeping the JADU a genuine extension of the household rather than an independent rental parcel. The distinction matters for compliance: a property owner adding a JADU who then moves away without also occupying the main house or filing for one of the narrow institutional exceptions is out of compliance with the section, regardless of how the unit is otherwise built.