Gardena, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

Section 18.13.040(C) of the Gardena Municipal Code prohibits renting the accessory dwelling unit, or any other residence on the same property, or any part of either, for less than thirty-one consecutive calendar days; the restriction reaches the primary house as well as the ADU, so an owner cannot dodge it by short-term renting the main house while the ADU stays long-term. Units approved under the state-mandated ministerial pathway in Section 18.13.060 carry a parallel restriction in subsection D barring any rental of thirty days or less.

For a junior accessory dwelling unit, Section 18.13.070(H)(3) requires a recorded deed restriction, running with the land, that separately bars renting the JADU or the single-family dwelling, or any part of either, for less than thirty-one consecutive calendar days, alongside deed-restriction covenants against selling the JADU separately, enlarging it beyond five hundred square feet, and requiring the owner to occupy either the primary home or the JADU unless the owner is a governmental agency, land trust or housing organization. Section 18.12.040(B) separately lists short-term rentals as an expressly prohibited use citywide in the R-1 zone, reinforcing the same thirty-one-day floor at the zoning level rather than only inside the ADU chapter. These restrictions target vacation and Airbnb-style rentals, not standard month-to-month or annual leasing, which the code does not limit.