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

Section 13.10.045(D)(6)(a) is unambiguous about full-size accessory dwelling units: "ADUs are not subject to an owner-occupancy requirement." An investor or absentee owner can rent out both the primary home and a detached or attached ADU without living on the property at all.

JADUs work differently because they share space and systems with the main house. Subsection (D)(6)(b)(i) states that "as required by state law, JADUs are generally subject to an owner-occupancy requirement," and specifies that "a natural person with legal or equitable title to the property must reside on the property, in either the primary dwelling or JADU, as the person's legal domicile and permanent residence." That means the titleholder, not a tenant or property manager, has to actually live in one of the two units as their real home, not a second residence used occasionally.

Two exceptions release a JADU from that requirement under subsection (D)(6)(b)(ii). The first applies when the JADU has its own separate sanitation facilities and does not share bathroom or kitchen plumbing with the primary dwelling. The second applies when the property is entirely owned by a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization, entities that cannot "reside" on the property as a natural person. Outside those two situations, Development Services expects the recorded deed restriction required under subsection (D)(8) to reflect the owner-occupancy condition, and that restriction runs with the land and binds every future owner of the parcel.