West Covina | ADUs and SB 9

West Covina, California ADUs and SB 9: Unit Sizes, the Second Unit Review, State Law Overrides and Urban Dwelling Units

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a second, smaller home on the same lot as a house or apartment building, with its own kitchen and bathroom. A junior ADU (JADU) is a unit of 500 square feet or less inside a house. SB 9 is the 2021 state law that allows two main homes on a single-family lot; West Covina calls the added home an urban dwelling unit. Both kinds go through one staff process, the second unit review. The City's text is from 2024 and 2025, and on several points it is stricter than state law or disagrees with itself. This page sets out the text, the points where the statute decides, and the steps. The West Covina overview has the summary.

The ADU Rules (Article IV, Division 2)

ADUs are marked allowed by right in all six residential zones and in the OPMU, NMU, RMU and SMU mixed-use zones. The ADU division was adopted with the Development Code on February 20, 2024, and Ordinance No. 2525 amended Section 26-140 on March 18, 2025. Section 26-137 still cites "California Government Code Sections 65852.2 and 65852.22." The state ADU rules now sit in Government Code 66314 and the sections after it. Under Section 26-138, an application that meets the standards "shall be approved ministerially by the City by applying the standards herein and without a public hearing." Ministerial means staff check fixed written rules and have no power to say no for other reasons.

• Types. Section 26-139 lists attached, detached and converted ADUs and the junior ADU. A conversion may add "up to one hundred and fifty (150) additional square feet if the expansion is limited to accommodating ingress and egress."
• Size. A detached ADU "shall not have more than one thousand two hundred (1,200) square feet of living area." An attached ADU may have the greater of 850 square feet with up to one bedroom, 1,000 with two or more, or 50 percent of the existing house up to 1,200 square feet.
• Setbacks. Four feet from side and rear lines for new construction, none for a conversion or a rebuild in the same place and size. The front setback of the zone applies unless an ADU of up to 800 square feet would not fit; then "there shall be no required front yard setback."
• Separation. A detached ADU must sit 10 feet from the house and from "all other structures, including garages, on the property."
• Height. Sixteen feet, with exceptions: 18 feet for a detached ADU "within a half-mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor" or on a lot with a multistory apartment building, and 25 feet or the zone limit for an attached ADU. A second-story addition for an ADU needs an administrative permit.
• Parking. One space of 10 by 20 feet "unless the accessory dwelling unit has no bedrooms." Tandem parking, one car behind another, on the driveway counts. When a garage or carport is converted or removed for an ADU, "the off-street parking spaces do not have to be replaced."
• Design. "The exterior materials, colors, roof design (e.g. gable, hipped, flat) and architecture shall match the primary unit." Outside stairs to a second-floor ADU may not sit between the side property line and the building. One covered patio or porch of 30 square feet is allowed.
• Address and utilities. On a house lot the ADU gets no separate address and "shall not have its own separate utility meter."
• Rentals and sale. ADUs and JADUs "shall not be rented for a term of thirty (30) days or less." Before the permit, the owner records a covenant, a written promise that binds later owners, saying the ADU will not be sold apart from the house except as state law allows.
• Replacing the house. "An existing primary dwelling may be converted to an accessory dwelling unit" if it meets the division, and "a new, larger primary residence may be constructed."

Where the City Text Disagrees With Itself or With State Law

A city ADU rule that is stricter than state law is void to that extent, because state law sets the minimum a city must allow. Government Code 66322 applies "whether or not the local agency has adopted an ordinance governing accessory dwelling units." West Covina's March 2025 clean-up fixed two subsections of Section 26-140 and left older wording in a third.

Sources: West Covina Municipal Code Sec. 26-140, 26-142 and 17-203 (Supplement 94); Gov. Code 66323, 66321, 66322, 66333 and 66311.5.

• Number on a house lot. Section 26-140(b) allows "One (1) accessory dwelling unit and one (1) junior accessory dwelling unit per lot" and "One (1) detached, new construction, accessory dwelling unit" of up to 800 square feet. The staff report for Ordinance No. 2525 said it "Changed 'or' to 'and'" there to match state law. Subsection (k) still says "no more than one (1) accessory dwelling unit and one (1) junior accessory dwelling unit may be on the lot," and the City's ADU page says the same. Government Code 66323(a) requires approval of "any combination" of the listed units.
• Apartment lots. Subsection (c) allows "Up to eight (8) detached accessory dwelling units or one (1) per primary unit, whichever is less," each up to 1,000 square feet and 16 feet tall. Subsection (k) still reads "No more than two (2) detached accessory dwelling units." The statute allows "not more than eight" on a lot with an existing multifamily building. Both subsections also allow ADUs in unused space such as storage rooms and garages, up to 25 percent of the existing homes and at least one.
• Junior ADU owner rule. Section 26-142 says the owner "shall occupy as a primary residence either the primary dwelling or the junior accessory dwelling." Government Code 66333(b) says "Owner-occupancy shall not be required if the junior accessory dwelling unit has separate sanitation facilities." The City's application form follows the statute: it asks for proof of residency only "for any proposed JADU that shares sanitation facilities within the existing structure."
• Design and separation. For a converted ADU, a junior ADU and a detached ADU of up to 800 square feet with four-foot setbacks, Government Code 66323(b) says a city "shall not impose any objective development or design standard that is not authorized by this section." The matching-materials rule and the 10-foot separation are not in that section.
• Fees. Chapter 17 says that for impact fees a second unit "shall also be categorized as a multi-family unit." Government Code 66311.5(c) prohibits any impact fee on an ADU of "750 square feet of interior livable space or less" and requires a larger ADU to be charged "proportionately in relation to the square footage of the primary dwelling unit."
• The handout. The City's ADU / JADU Guidelines, updated May 2025, say "The ADU/JADU cannot exceed 16 feet" and "Only (1) ADU and (1) JADU per lot." Section 26-140 as amended allows more on both points, and the code controls over the handout.

The Second Unit Review, Step by Step

Section 26-256 describes the second unit review as "the procedure used by the City to verify" that an ADU, junior ADU or urban dwelling unit meets the standards. The approval letter "shall be considered the same as a zoning clearance," meaning staff's confirmation that the plans meet the zoning rules, and "Building permits shall not be issued without a second unit review approval letter."

• What to file. The application, updated March 2026, asks for the application sheet, the owner's permission "authenticated by notary," the filing fee, the occupant's permission to enter the site, two sets of plans at 24 by 36 inches (site plan, floor plan, elevations with photographs of the house, and roof plan), a copy of the grant deed, and a PDF of the plans on a flash drive. "E-mailed plans will not be accepted."
• The fee. $1,022.42 for "New Construction and/or New Floor Area Addition" and $654.99 for "Existing Structure Conversion."
• The time limit. Section 26-256 says "If the planning division has not approved or denied the completed application within sixty (60) days, the application is deemed approved," unless the applicant asks for a delay. Government Code 66317 also gives the City 15 business days to say in writing whether an ADU application is complete. The City's ADU page says the applicant gets a reply at 30 days.
• If the answer is no. The City "must provide the applicant with comments that include, among other things, a list of all defective or deficient items and a description of how the application may be remedied by the applicant."
• After approval. The ADU page says "Receiving an Approval Letter is not a permit for construction." The letter lets the applicant submit to the Building Division, and the Planning Division inspects at the end if the approved plans carry its stamp.

Two other City pages are useful. The AB 2533 page describes a process to permit an ADU or JADU "that was constructed prior to January 1, 2020." The Pre-Approved ADU Plans page says it "will soon contain a listing" of plans. In 2024 every new home permitted in the city was an ADU: the annual progress report for 2024 says "building permits were issued for 95 new housing units (all accessory dwelling units)."

SB 9 Urban Dwelling Units (Article IV, Division 4)

Section 26-161 requires the City to "ministerially review a housing development containing no more than two (2) residential units" on a parcel "located within a single-family residential zone." The City's Urban Lot Splits page says these units "are only allowed on Single Family Residential (R-1) zoned lots." A lot split is optional: a second primary home may be added to an R-1 lot that stays whole.

Source: West Covina Municipal Code Sec. 26-162 (Supplement 94).

• How many units. Without a lot split, "Each primary unit may have no more than one (1) accessory dwelling unit (ADU) and/or junior accessory dwelling (JADU) unit for a total of four (4) units per lot." With a lot split, "no more than two (2) units per lot shall be allowed," and an existing ADU or JADU counts.
• Sites excluded. Historic districts and landmarks, very high fire hazard severity zones unless fire mitigation measures have been adopted for the site, and earthquake fault zones unless the project meets seismic building standards.
• Protected housing. No demolition or alteration of rent-restricted housing or of "Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three (3) years."
• Windows and stairs. Second-floor side windows must be high windows "no less than five (5) feet above the interior floor level." Balconies, second-story decks and outside stairs are prohibited.
• Landscape. Half of the front yard must be planted and one 24-inch box tree is required. Front paving is limited to the garage width, or 12 feet with no garage.
• The affidavit. Section 26-164 requires a recorded affidavit, a sworn written statement, that uses are residential, that any rental "shall be for a minimum of thirty-one (31) days," and that the site is not eligible for a street parking permit.

Where Division 4 and the Statute Differ

Government Code 65852.21, as amended effective June 30, 2026, says a city "shall not impose objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards that do not apply uniformly to development within the underlying zone," unless they are more permissive. A Planning Commission staff report of January 14, 2025 described this change, made by the 2024 state law SB 450, and asked the Commission to start a code amendment. A search of the City's agenda system through the October 6, 2026 City Council meeting shows no ordinance amending Division 4 since then.

• Standards only for SB 9 homes. The 800 square foot cap, the one-story and 16-foot limit, the porch, roof, material and color rules and the ban on other accessory structures apply to urban dwelling units alone. The R-1 zone lets other houses reach two stories and 25 feet under Section 26-46. The statute controls.
• The 25 percent wall rule. Section 26-161 still limits demolition of an existing home to "twenty-five (25) percent of the existing exterior structural walls." The staff report says of that state rule, "That language has been removed," and the current statute has no such limit.
• Grounds to deny. Section 26-165 allows denial for an adverse impact "upon the public health and safety or the physical environment." The statute now reads "upon public health and safety."
• Unit count in the affidavit. Section 26-164 has the owner swear that "the maximum number of units to be allowed on the parcels is two (2), including" ADUs and junior ADUs. Section 26-162(a), amended in March 2025, allows four units on a lot with no lot split. The later text and the statute control; ask staff which wording the current affidavit form uses.
• Timing. On this point the code matches the statute: Section 26-256 applies the 60-day rule to urban dwelling units, and Government Code 65852.21 says an application not decided in 60 days "shall be deemed approved."

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the West Covina overview, the California ADU law page and the SB 9 page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)