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

100 of the Merced County Zoning Code sets standards specific to junior accessory dwelling units, which are unit-in-a-house conversions capped at 500 square feet under subsection C. Subsection F is the owner-occupancy trigger: the owner must reside on the property, in either the newly created JADU or the remaining portion of the single-family dwelling. The county carves out two exceptions: the requirement drops away if the JADU has its own separate sanitation facilities, or if the owner is a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization rather than an individual.

This tracks a broader compliance package the county attaches to every JADU permit. 26. Subsection H requires a deed restriction recorded before the county issues a building permit, and that recorded restriction has to spell out four things: the 500-square-foot size cap and required kitchen facilities, that the restriction runs with the land and binds future owners, that owner-occupancy applies to either the JADU or the main house, and that the JADU cannot be conveyed apart from the single-family dwelling. Because this is a recorded deed restriction rather than a self-enforcing zoning setback, compliance is checked at the building-permit and title stages rather than through routine inspection.

The section was adopted by Ordinance 1990 Section 1 in 2020 and later amended by Ordinance 2062 in 2026, so the current text on the books reflects that most recent amendment.