Pasadena, California | Three or More Homes

Pasadena, California Three or More Homes: RM Districts, Gardens, Inclusionary Units, Density Bonus and SB 79

In the RS house districts of Pasadena, California, the Zoning Code allows at most two primary homes on a lot, through SB 9. A project of three or more homes on one lot goes in the RM-16, RM-32 or RM-48 districts, in a specific plan area, or near transit under SB 79. This page covers the density of each RM district, the garden and design rules that shape the buildings, the affordable housing rules, and how Pasadena has handled SB 79. On a house lot, the most you can reach is two SB 9 homes or a house with ADUs, covered on the ADUs and SB 9 page.

Density in the RM Districts

Table 2-4 sets density as square feet of lot per home. On lots of 10,000 square feet or more, RM-16 needs 2,750 square feet per home, RM-16-1 needs 3,000, RM-32 needs 1,360 and RM-48 needs 910. By VanPlex arithmetic, a 15,000 square foot RM-32 lot gives 11 homes (15,000 / 1,360 = 11.03) and the same lot in RM-48 gives 16 (15,000 / 910 = 16.48, which rounds down). RM-32 and RM-48 lots under 10,000 square feet follow a fixed schedule, from 2 homes on 3,999 square feet or less to 6 homes on 8,500 to 9,999 square feet. The zoning districts page has the full schedule and the rounding rules.

Two units on an RM-16, RM-32 or RM-48 lot must meet the RM-12 standards (Table 2-2, note 7). Three or more units use the City of Gardens standards in Sections 17.22.060 to 17.22.080, which add rules on front setbacks, building separation, building design, height and gardens. RM-16-1 adds a 35 percent site coverage limit and a "Minimum required gross floor area for each dwelling unit" of 1,400 square feet.

The Main Garden Rule

Section 17.22.080 opens with the City's reason: "The presence of gardens and landscaped areas creates the ambiance of Pasadena more than any other factor." Each multi-family project must have a main garden, a private garden or a landscaped court as "its central focus," and it must be "a well-defined, coherent area," not leftover space. The main garden must be a rectangle at least 20 feet in each direction, placed in one of several listed ways: next to a garden on the neighboring lot, joined to the front yard, as an inner courtyard visible from the street, or around a large healthy tree.

Source: Pasadena Municipal Code, Sec. 17.22.080.A.2, Supplement 79. Percentages are of site area.

• Splitting the garden. In RM-16, half the required main garden area must be the main garden; the rest may be private gardens next to each unit. In RM-32 and RM-48, when the required garden is 2,500 square feet or more, half may be ancillary gardens, each at least 20 feet in both directions and 80 percent landscaped.
• Enclosure. Buildings must enclose at least 50 percent of the garden's edge on sites with 60 feet or more of street frontage, and 40 percent on narrower sites; walls, trellises or hedges must bound at least 75 percent.
• View from the street. On lots with more than 60 feet of frontage, an opening at least 10 feet wide and 10 feet high must show the garden from the street.
• Planting. At ground level with no parking below, at least half must be planted. A main garden of 1,500 square feet or more needs a canopy tree with a mature height of 35 feet or more, plus one more for each extra 1,000 square feet.
• Over parking. A garden may sit on at least two feet of soil over a fully underground garage.

Building Design in the City of Gardens Districts

Section 17.22.070 shapes the buildings around the garden. "No facade along the street may be longer than 60 feet," and a 15 foot gap between buildings is required for every 60 feet of frontage, giving a view into the main garden. On sites with 60 feet or more of frontage, building volume must fill at least 50 percent of the site width at the front setback; on narrower sites, 40 percent. Street facades need major windows and entrances to units or lobbies. In RM-16, a porch, stair or alcove entrance should serve no more than two units, and in RM-32 no more than four. The front setback is the average of the block, but not less than 20 feet.

Light and air rules protect neighbors: new walls facing major windows or doors on the next lot must stay 15 feet away, and walls facing minor windows 10 feet. Where an RM lot backs onto an RS district, the rear setback grows from 5 feet at the first story to 15 feet at the second and 25 feet at the third. Heights by district are on the parking, setbacks and height page.

Inclusionary Housing: 20 Percent at 10 Units

An inclusionary rule requires a share of new homes to be affordable. Pasadena's Chapter 17.42 applies to a "Residential project," which the glossary defines as "A subdivision resulting in the creation of 10 or more residential lots, the new construction of a project consisting of 10 or more multi-family units," 10 or more single-room occupancy units, or 10 or more single-family units approved through a planned development. A project of nine units or fewer is outside it.

Section 17.42.040 requires "A minimum of 20 percent of the total number of dwelling units" to go to very low, low and moderate income households. For sale, all 20 percent may be any of the three groups. For rent, 5 percent must go to very low income households, 5 percent to very low or low, and 10 percent to very low, low or moderate. Fractions of 0.75 or more round up in projects of 10 to 20 units, and every project must include at least one unit for very low, low or moderate income and one for very low or low income.

Section 17.42.050 lets a developer instead pay an in-lieu fee (money paid instead of building the units), build the units on another site, or donate land, the last two at the City Manager's discretion. Half the fee is due "before issuance of a Building Permit," and the rest before a certificate of occupancy. A project that displaces very low, low or moderate income households must build the affordable units on site.

Source: City of Pasadena, FY 2027 General Fee Schedule, fees 1155 to 1170, adopted column dated June 8, 2026. The schedule does not map the sub-areas; ask the Housing Department which one covers your site.

The Density Bonus

A density bonus lets a project build more homes than the zone allows in return for affordable units. Pasadena's Chapter 17.43 applies to "multi-family residential and mixed-use development projects consisting of five or more dwelling units." Section 17.43.040 says a request "shall not require any discretionary approval by the City." Its tables give 20 percent for 5 percent very low income units up to 35 percent at 11 percent; 20 percent for 10 percent low income units up to 35 percent at 20 percent; and 5 percent for 10 percent moderate income for-sale units up to 35 percent at 40 percent. A senior project of at least 35 units gets 20 percent. In Central District subdistricts CD-1 to CD-4 the bonus may reach 50 percent, with a Conditional Use Permit (a discretionary approval with conditions) above 35 percent.

The state law is larger. Government Code 65915 carries the very low income table on to a 50 percent bonus for 15 percent very low income units, anywhere in the state. Where Pasadena's table is lower, the statute controls, and the duplex to fourplex guide explains the state bonus. Pasadena also lets a bonus project ask for alternative parking under Section 17.43.090: one space for a unit of zero or one bedroom, two for two or three bedrooms, and two and a half for four or more.

Design Review and Objective Standards

Design review is a check of a building's look and fit against City design guidelines. Section 17.61.030 applies it to all projects, including public projects, with exemptions for work that cannot be seen from the street and for "New single-family residences and duplexes." Tables 6-3 and 6-4 give new multifamily housing of "Up to 10 dwelling units" to the Planning Director and "Greater than 10 dwelling units" to the Design Commission. Review runs in stages: Preliminary Consultation, Concept Design Review and Final Design Review. The Concept approval is valid for 12 months under Section 17.64.040.

Ordinance No. 7468 of March 30, 2026 added Section 17.50.165, Objective Design Standards for High-Density Housing. Objective standards are fixed, measurable design rules that leave no room for opinion. They apply to "street-facing façades of residential and mixed-use development at proposed densities greater than 48 dwelling units per acre outside of RM Zoning Districts," in two sets, Design Type 1 and Design Type 2. Projects that follow them get Preliminary Consultation and one-step Consolidated Design Review; projects on sites over two acres may choose the standard process. Housing above 48 units per acre outside the residential districts and specific plans must also meet Section 17.50.350: ten foot side and rear setbacks and open space equal to at least 30 percent of the building's net floor area.

SB 79 in Pasadena

SB 79 makes housing an allowed use near qualifying transit stops, with state minimum heights and densities. HCD's SB 79 advisory says its upzoning provisions "will take effect on July 1, 2026, in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Diego Counties." Pasadena is in Los Angeles County.

Government Code 65912.161(b) lets a city exclude certain sites by ordinance until one year after it adopts its seventh housing element, and requires it to "indicate on its public zoning map which sites or transit-oriented development zones are and are not covered." A City Attorney fact sheet for the June 22, 2026 Council meeting describes an uncodified ordinance that "excludes certain sites from Senate Bill (SB) 79 until 18 months following July 1, 2026," which it says is January 1, 2028. The ordinance text excludes:

• In all six transit-oriented development zones within one-half mile of Metro A Line stations, "Sites with historic resources designated as of January 1, 2025, in a local register."
• In the Memorial Park, Del Mar and Lake Station zones, sites with historic resources on the state register, and "Sites zoned Multi-Family Residential (RM-12 and RM-16) and Single-Family Residential (RS)."

The fact sheet says the ordinance "will not exclude sites with densities of 32 and 48 dwelling units per acre," so RM-32 and RM-48 sites near those stations stay covered by SB 79. The City posts an SB 79 Delayed Effectuation Map that marks "Sites not covered by Government Code Sections 65912.157 and 65912.161 (Senate Bill 79)." This guide found the agenda documents and the map, but not a signed copy of the adopted ordinance, so confirm a site on the map with the Planning Division.

Existing Tenants and Rent Stabilization

Pasadena voters added Article XVIII, the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment, to the City Charter in a vote on November 8, 2022. It sets rent stabilization and just cause for eviction rules, run by a Pasadena Rental Housing Board. Under Section 1804(b), units exempt from rent control "pursuant to the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act," the state law that exempts newer units, are exempt from the rent stabilization sections but "are not exempt from Section 1806 (Just Cause for Eviction Protections)." Inclusionary and density bonus units are treated the same way. Plan the move-out of any existing tenant with those rules in mind, and read the California rent and tenant rules page for the state rules.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Pasadena overview, the SB 79 page and the California impact fees page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)