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

Woodland Municipal Code § 17.84.030.F.3 sets the rental-term rule for ADUs and JADUs. As a general matter, no ADU or JADU may be rented for a term shorter than 30 days, closing off the standard use of an accessory unit as a nightly or weekly vacation rental. The code carves out one exception: if there is no other ADU or JADU on the same lot, a single Class 2 ADU (one approved under the discretionary ministerial review path rather than the state-mandated Class 1 categories) may be operated as a short-term rental, but only if the lot sits in a zone where short-term rentals are allowed and the operator fully complies with the separate short-term rental regulations codified at Woodland Municipal Code § 17.84.340.

Subsection F.4, No Separate Conveyance, reinforces that while an ADU or JADU may be rented on a long-term basis, it cannot be sold or conveyed separately from the lot and primary dwelling, except as provided in California Government Code § 66341, preventing an ADU from becoming its own separately titled rental property. These rental-term standards apply across both Class 1 (state-law) and Class 2 (locally regulated) ADUs, and enforcement runs through Community Development and the Zoning Administrator, with violations chargeable under Chapter 17.128, Enforcement, and the general penalty provisions of Woodland Municipal Code § 1.08.070, which allow escalating infraction fines or misdemeanor prosecution for a continuing violation such as an unpermitted short-term rental.