Los Banos, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

3006(c) splits owner-occupancy into two tracks. For a full accessory dwelling unit, paragraph (1) requires a natural person holding legal or equitable title to the lot to reside in either the principal dwelling or the ADU as their legal domicile and permanent residence, meaning corporate or absentee ownership without an on-site resident owner does not qualify. That requirement is suspended, however, for any ADU permitted between January 1, 2020 and January 1, 2025, tracking the state-law window during which local owner-occupancy mandates were paused; ADUs approved outside those dates are subject to the full owner-occupancy rule.

For junior accessory dwelling units, paragraph (2) imposes the same live-in requirement on the titleholder, but the carve-out runs differently: a JADU owned by a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization is exempt from owner-occupancy altogether, recognizing that those entities hold title for affordable-housing purposes rather than as a private residence. Because the JADU exemption is entity-based rather than date-based, it does not sunset the way the ADU exemption does. 3006(d), which must notify future owners of whichever owner-occupancy requirement applies to their unit.