Santa Ana | Three or More Homes

Santa Ana Three or More Homes: R2 Lots, R3 and R4 Apartments, Townhouses, the Transit Zoning Code and Affordable Housing Rules

A multiplex here means three or more homes on one lot, in one building or several. Santa Ana has no single missing middle program for this. Instead, four parts of Chapter 41 of the Municipal Code allow it: the R2, R3 and R4 districts, the townhouse standards, and the building types of the Transit Zoning Code. Two more parts then shape the project: the density bonus and the City's affordable housing ordinance. This page covers each, from Supplement 33 Update 1. The Santa Ana overview sums up the guide.

R2: Three or Four Homes on a Large Lot

R2 permits one-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and townhouses (Section 41-247), and sizes the count by lot area: 6,000 square feet for the first home plus 3,000 for each added home (Section 41-247.6). By VanPlex arithmetic, that is 12,000 square feet for three homes and 15,000 for four. The lot needs 75 feet of street frontage once it holds two or more homes (Section 41-247.7).

The building form is limited. "No more than two (2) dwelling units (other than townhouses) shall be attached together" (Section 41-252). A third home is therefore either a separate house, at least 15 feet from the other main building (Section 41-254), or part of a townhouse group of three or more. Heights stop at 27 feet and two stories, coverage at 50 percent, and every home needs a 100 square foot private patio or deck (Sections 41-248, 41-248.5 and 41-255). At least one home's main entrance must face the street (Section 41-253 (g)).

Parking is the hardest R2 rule to meet. Section 41-1321 requires "three (3) spaces plus one (1) additional space for each bedroom in excess of two (2) bedrooms" for each home in a two-family or three-family dwelling, with two of them in an enclosed garage. The parking page explains when state law removes those spaces near transit.

R3: Apartments by Density Class

Source: Santa Ana Municipal Code Section 41-260, 41-262, 41-264 and 41-269, Supplement 33 Update 1.

R3 permits "Multiple-family dwellings" (Section 41-259). Density is homes times 43,560 square feet, divided by the site area (Section 41-260), and it "shall not exceed the density limit, if any, prescribed by the general plan" (Section 41-261). On top of that, a site smaller than the standard size for its class may not exceed its site size limitation (Section 41-262). The formula starts from a base density (15, 22, 35 or 60 homes per acre by class) and adds part of a further allowance (7, 13, 25 or 30) in proportion to how close the site is to the standard size.

A worked example shows the effect. A 6,000 square foot class I site is half the 12,000 square foot standard, so it gets half of the 7 extra homes per acre: 15 plus 3.5 is 18.5 homes per acre. The code then multiplies by the site area over 45,560 square feet, the figure printed in Section 41-262 (h), which gives 2.44 homes, so two homes. With 43,560, the area of an acre used in Section 41-260, the answer is 2.55, still two. On a full 12,000 square foot site the two figures give 5.79 and 6.06 homes, so the printed number costs one home there. These are VanPlex arithmetic on the code's formula; ask the Planning Division which figure it uses.

R3 projects carry other costs. Every home needs 250 square feet of usable open space, split among passive common space, active space such as a pool, and private space (Section 41-270). Each needs a lockable storage space of 250 cubic feet (Section 41-272). Homes must be at least 450 square feet for a bachelor unit, 550 for one bedroom, 750 for two and 950 for three (Section 41-272.01). Classes III and IV may use no more than 60 percent of the site for buildings and paving. A building over three stories needs a shade and shadow study. Section 41-263 lets a project exceed the R3 density limits "as appropriate to allow a density bonus authorized or required by state law."

Townhouses and R4 Garden Apartments

Townhouses, permitted in R2 and R3, follow Division 6. The site needs 12,000 square feet and 100 feet of frontage, and the code asks for 3,000 square feet of lot per home (Sections 41-274 and 41-275). Buildings may be 27 feet and two stories and cover half the lot. Yards are 20 feet in front, 10 feet on the sides (15 on an arterial street) and 15 feet in back, and buildings sit 20 feet apart (Sections 41-277 to 41-285). Each home needs "two (2) spaces in a garage," garages "shall not face the street," and "Two (2) guest spaces shall be provided for each townhouse" (Section 41-282). Each home also needs 250 square feet of private ground-level open space and its share of 250 square feet of common space (Section 41-283).

R4 suits garden apartments. It allows bungalow courts and apartment houses on 1,500 square feet of lot per home in buildings up to three stories and 500 square feet per home at four stories or more (Sections 41-292 and 41-300). Half the lot must stay open (Section 41-301). Units must be at least 450 square feet for a bachelor apartment, 650 for one bedroom and 800 for two, plus 100 square feet for each further bedroom (Section 41-299). At least one parking space per home must be in a garage or carport (Section 41-302). Near houses, R4 buildings step down: one story and 20 feet within 150 feet of A1, RE or R1 land, and three stories and 50 feet within 300 feet (Section 41-296).

Transit Zoning Code Building Types

In the Transit Zoning Code (Article XIX), a project is built as one of the building types that Table BT-1 permits in its zone, and each type comes with a lot width, a density range in homes per acre, and a story limit. Section 41-2020 says "a proposed building shall be designed as one of the building types permitted by the applicable zone." The types that fit small sites in the two neighborhood zones are below.

Source: Santa Ana Municipal Code, Article XIX, Table BT-1 and Tables UN1-1 and UN2-1, Supplement 33 Update 1.

The duplex, triplex and quadplex type, Section 41-2031, describes buildings "architecturally presented as large single-family houses." Each ground floor home's main entrance must face the street, and upstairs homes are reached by a stair that "shall not face the street." Parking goes in garages of up to four cars, from the alley where there is one. The lot needs one common open space equal to 15 percent of the lot, at least 15 feet across, and each ground floor home needs 150 square feet of private open space. Upper floors may cover 75 percent of the ground floor footprint on the second story and 40 percent on the third (Table BT-13).

Density then limits the count. Section 41-2003 says that for density bonus purposes "the maximum density allowed shall be based on the highest number of the density range shown on table BT-1." At 15 homes per acre, VanPlex arithmetic gives 8,712 square feet of lot for a triplex and 11,616 for a quadplex. Setbacks differ by zone: UN-1 asks 20 feet in front and back and 5 feet on the sides; UN-2 asks 10 feet in front, 15 in back, and side yards of 5 feet for one or two stories, 8 for three and 12 for four or more. Both zones require "2 / unit min" parking plus 0.25 guest spaces per home.

Affordable Housing: Inclusionary Rules and the Density Bonus

Santa Ana's inclusionary ordinance, which requires a share of new homes to be affordable, is the "2021 Affordable Housing Opportunity and Creation Ordinance" in Article XVIII.I. The City's ordinance page says the Council adopted the revised version on April 19, 2022 and lowered the "applicability threshold from 20 units to 5 units." It applies to projects of five or more homes that meet a trigger in Section 41-1902 (a), such as density above the General Plan or zoning, density made possible by a City-initiated zone change or General Plan amendment after November 28, 2011, new homes in an overlay zone, or a condominium conversion. It applies only to the added homes: the requirements "shall only apply to the incremental units" above what the old rules allowed.

• For sale: at least 5 percent sold to moderate-income households.
• Rentals: 15 percent to low-income households, or 10 percent very low, or 5 percent extremely low, or a 10 percent mix of 5 low, 3 very low and 2 extremely low.
• In-lieu fee: per square foot of habitable area in the whole project, $6.00 for 5 to 9 homes, $9.00 for 10 to 14, $12.00 for 15 to 19 and $15.00 for 20 or more, paid before the first occupancy approval.
• Workforce: since January 1, 2026, a project of 20 or more homes that pays the $15.00 fee must commit that 30 percent of its workforce is a "skilled and trained workforce"; higher shares lower the fee to $10.00 or $5.00.

Projects that build the affordable homes instead of paying may take up to two concessions: lower parking (one space for a studio or one-bedroom home, two for two or three bedrooms), a setback cut of up to 25 percent, or "Height increase of up to twenty (20) additional feet" (Section 41-1904.1). The FY 2026-27 fee schedule lists an Inclusionary Housing Plan Submittal Fee of $344 and an Annual Rental Monitoring Fee of $138 per unit.

The density bonus is extra homes the state lets a project build in return for affordable units. Article XVI.I says its purpose is to implement Government Code 65915 to 65918 "as it may be amended from time to time," and applies to projects of five or more homes. Its own Section 41-1604 still caps the total at "one hundred twenty-five (125) per cent of the units permitted," while the current Government Code 65915 sets larger bonuses, including 80 percent for some all-affordable projects and no density limit for those near a major transit stop. The statute controls. The fee schedule lists a Density Bonus Setup Fee of one-eighth of 1 percent of the gross construction valuation.

SB 79 Transit Upzoning

SB 79 raises allowed density and height near certain rail and bus stops, but only in an "urban transit county," which Government Code 65912.156 defines as "a county with more than 15 passenger rail stations." HCD's SB 79 advisory lists Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Diego Counties as the places where it took effect on July 1, 2026. Orange County is not on the list.

The City's own SB 79 page says the law "applies to Santa Ana and it does not make an exception for charter cities," but that SCAG's preliminary map of June 1, 2026 shows "Santa Ana is not currently subject to SB 79's provisions as Orange County is not anticipated to qualify as an urban transit county until the OC Streetcar opens for revenue service." The same page notes that, once the law applies, "sites containing more than two units subject to a local Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) that have been occupied by tenants within the past seven years are exempt." The state SB 79 page explains the tiers.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the duplex to fourplex guide, the SB 79 page and the Santa Ana overview.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)