El Dorado County, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

Between January 1, 2020 and January 1, 2025, California law suspended local owner-occupancy mandates for standard accessory dwelling units, and El Dorado County's ordinance followed that suspension: an owner could add an ADU and rent out both the primary home and the ADU to different tenants during that window, with the sole exception of junior accessory dwelling units, which have always required the owner to occupy the main house or the JADU under Subsection C.3.d(1).

That state suspension expired, and Section 130.40.300(D) now requires owner occupancy of one of the residential units on the property for any ADU permit issued after January 1, 2025. The ordinance is written to explicitly prevent an owner from turning a single-unit residential lot into two non-owner-occupied rentals: the point of the rule is that at least one unit, either the house or the ADU, has to be the owner's residence.

To enforce the restriction administratively rather than relying only on inspections, the county requires a signed and notarized notice of restriction to be recorded against the property before the Planning and Building Department will issue a certificate of occupancy for the new ADU. That filing puts future buyers on notice of the occupancy condition running with the land. The rule carries exceptions for nonprofit housing organizations, special needs trust beneficiaries, and licensed Community Care Facilities, which are not required to meet the owner-occupancy condition.