Layton, UT Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

300(3), "Owner-Occupied," ties every ADU in Layton to owner-occupancy of the underlying property. " To document compliance, the owner must sign a letter of agreement stating the property will be used as a primary residence, and that letter has to be recorded at the Davis County Recorder's Office by the city's Community & Economic Development Department, creating a record that runs with the land. The ordinance builds in a limited, time-boxed exception rather than a permanent waiver: owner-occupancy can be temporarily suspended if the owner is absent due to a bona fide temporary absence of three years or less for a job assignment, sabbatical, or voluntary service, provided the property was the owner's primary residence immediately before leaving and the owner intends to move back into either unit when the assignment ends.

Outside that narrow window, an owner who moves out and rents both units, for instance leasing the main house to one tenant and the ADU to another while living elsewhere, is out of compliance regardless of how long each tenancy runs. The requirement works alongside the ADU's 30-day minimum rental term and building-permit requirement in the same section, so a lender or buyer evaluating a Layton property with an ADU should expect to find the recorded owner-occupancy letter in the Davis County land records.