San Ramon, CA Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)

B defines a tiny house two ways. E, not as housing. If instead it is built on a permanent foundation with at least 150 square feet of floor area, including a kitchen sink, cooking appliance, and refrigeration, it is treated as an efficiency unit reviewed under the Accessory Dwelling Unit standards of Section D4-39. E bars storing or parking any recreational vehicle, trailer, or oversized truck within a required front setback area, with only a narrow nonresidential exception for a display area approved through a Minor Use Permit.

A tiny house classified as an RV may be kept in an interior or corner side yard setback only if it sits behind a seven-foot fence that screens it from the street and adjacent parcels, and temporary driveway or carport parking for loading or unloading before or after a trip cannot exceed 72 consecutive hours. San Ramon also grandfathered RV owners who already had a vehicle parked in a front yard as of August 25, 2006, letting them keep doing so only if they registered the vehicle with the City, paid processing fees, complied with sidewalk and sight-distance rules, and completed registration within six months of that date; that registration follows the registrant, not the vehicle, and ends automatically when the property sells or the tenancy ends.