Santa Clarita, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

040 implements California's accessory dwelling unit and junior accessory dwelling unit mandates under Government Code Section 66323, and states plainly that where this subsection conflicts with state law, state law controls. Within that framework, Santa Clarita imposes its own occupancy-length floor: subsection (L)(3)(a) says an ADU may not be used in violation of the code and that any rental of the ADU must be for a term of 30 days or longer, which forecloses nightly and weekly short-term rental use. Junior ADUs get the identical 30-day floor in subsection (L)(3)(b), plus an ownership condition: the JADU cannot be sold apart from the main house, and the property owner must live in either the primary single-family residence or the newly created JADU, unless a specific Government Code Section 66333(b) exemption applies.

Subsection (L)(2)(a) adds a sequencing rule for occupancy: the Building Official will not issue a final certificate of occupancy for an ADU or JADU before the primary dwelling itself has one, except as state law otherwise allows. Address assignment is also spelled out in subsection (L)(4): an ADU or JADU without an internal connection to the main house must apply for its own address number, to be placed over the unit's entrance or somewhere visible from the street, with the Fire Chief able to require additional address markings for emergency response purposes.