Riverside, CA Accessory Structures: Garage Conversions (2026)

442 of the Zoning Code, speaks directly to the most common ADU project in the city: turning an attached or detached garage into livable space. 030(H) states that no parking is required for an ADU, MADU, or JADU at all, and separately that no replacement parking is required for the primary dwelling when a garage, carport, or covered parking space is converted. A homeowner doesn't have to pour a new driveway pad or carve out a replacement space elsewhere on the lot just because the garage the family used to park in is now a converted bedroom or rental unit.

The conversion also gets relief on two other fronts. 030(C)(1)(a) provides that existing structures converted to an ADU or JADU 'shall require no additional setback,' so a garage that already sat close to a side or rear property line when it functioned as a garage can remain exactly where it is once converted. 030(A)(6) confirms that 'no actions to correct zoning nonconformities related to physical improvements are required for ADUs,' meaning a garage that predates current setback or lot-coverage standards doesn't have to be brought into full conformity just to become an ADU.

Together, these three provisions remove the three biggest zoning obstacles, replacement parking, new setbacks, and nonconformity correction, that would otherwise complicate converting a garage into a habitable accessory unit.