Redlands, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Rules (2026)

Redlands City Code Chapter 18.156, Article VII, defines a 'second unit' at Section 18.156.440 as a detached or attached dwelling with complete independent living facilities on the same lot as a single-family home, including an efficiency unit under Health and Safety Code Section 17958.1 or a manufactured home under Section 18007. Section 18.156.450 caps a detached second unit at 1,200 square feet and an attached one at 30 percent of the primary unit's existing living area, and routes approval through the community development director rather than a hearing body.

Section 18.156.460 then imposes standards that predate the modern statewide ADU regime enacted after 2016: one on-site parking space for the second unit in addition to the primary unit's required parking (tandem parking allowed), a separate outside entrance that is 'not visible from the street,' and a requirement that 'the second unit shall be located to the rear of the primary unit.' These three restrictions were adopted under Ordinance 2533 in 2003 and Ordinance 2743 in 2010, well before Government Code Sections 66310 through 66342 (formerly Section 65852.2) established the current statewide ADU framework, which bars cities from imposing rear-yard placement mandates, hidden-entrance requirements or parking minimums on many qualifying ADUs, including those within an existing structure or on lots near transit.

Because Redlands has not repealed or replaced this article to conform to current state law, an applicant whose ADU proposal conflicts with Section 18.156.460 should expect the state ADU statute, not the local second-unit chapter, to control the outcome, and should confirm current review procedures with the Redlands Development Services Department before relying on the printed local text.