ORDINANCE NO. 2025-xx
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA APPROVING CODE AMENDMENT PCTY-24-0002 AMENDING CHAPTER V, ARTICLE 1, SECTION 13-35 (ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS) OF TITLE 13 OF THE COSTA MESA MUNICIPAL CODE TO CONFORM TO RECENT REVISIONS TO STATE LAW THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA DOES HEREBY FIND AND DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, updates to the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (JADU) provisions are required to provide consistencies between the City’s Zoning Code and the State law; and WHEREAS, in response to the implementation of State and local law regarding ADUs and JADUs, City staff and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) found inconsistencies in the City’s ADU provisions that require updating; and WHEREAS, recently adopted State housing laws, including SB 477, SB 1211, AB2533, and AB 1033, require updates to the City’s ADU and JADU provisions; and WHEREAS, the City has acknowledged all HCD comments in the proposed Ordinance with the exception of prohibiting the use of JADUs for short-term rentals. Pursuant to Government Code Section 66310, the legislature has determined the following: (1) ADUs and JADUs are “a valuable form of housing in California”; (2) ADUs and JADUs "provide housing for family members, students, the elderly, in-home health care providers, the disabled, and others, at below market prices within existing neighborhoods”; (3) Homeowners who create accessory dwelling units benefit from added income, and an increased sense of security”; (4) “Allowing accessory dwelling units in single-family or multifamily residential zones provides additional rental housing stock in California”; (5) “California faces a severe housing crisis”; (6) “The state is falling far short of meeting current and future housing demand with serious consequences for the state’s economy, our ability to build green infill consistent with state greenhouse gas reduction goals, and the well-being of our citizens, particularly lower and middle-income earners”; (7) “Accessory dwelling units offer lower cost housing to meet the needs of existing and future residents within existing neighborhoods, while respecting architectural character”; and (8) Accessory dwelling units are, therefore, an essential component of California’s housing supply. Thus, allowing JADUs to be rented for short-term rentals that are facilitated by online marketplaces would reduce and threaten the availability of housing, including affordable housing, within the City during the State housing crisis, and therefore allowing the prohibition of short-term rentals of the City’s JADUs is consistent with State ADU law, specifically Government Code Section 66310; and WHEREAS, Government Code section 66316 provides in part, “if a local agency has an existing accessory dwelling unit ordinance that fails to meet the requirements of this subdivision, that ordinance shall be null and void;” and WHEREAS, this Ordinance is necessary to implement State and local ADU provisions, establish the minimum development standards in the Costa Mesa Municipal Code to regulate ADUs, and to ensure consistency with State law.
Now, therefore, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1: Code Amendment. Section 13-35 (Accessory Dwelling Units). Chapter V, Article 1, Section 13-35 (Accessory Dwelling Units) of Title 13, Planning, Zoning and Development of the Costa Mesa Municipal Code, as specified in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, is hereby amended as set forth therein.
Section 2. Repeal. All portions of prior ordinances, including those within Urgency Ordinance 19-19, to the extent that they are inconsistent with the terms of this Ordinance are hereby repealed and replaced by this Ordinance.
Section 3. Compliance with CEQA. Adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080.17 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15282(h), in that the adoption of an ordinance regarding second units in a single-family or multifamily zone by a city or county to implement the provisions of Sections 65852.1, 65852.150 and 65852.2 is exempt from the requirements of CEQA. In addition, the proposed ordinance amendment is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) in that there is no possibility that the minor updates to the City’s ADU provisions will have a significant impact on the environment.
Section 4. Inconsistencies with State Law. Any provision of this Ordinance which is inconsistent with State law shall be interpreted in a manner which is the most limiting on the ability to create ADUs or Junior ADUs, but which is consistent with State law. Any provision of the Costa Mesa Municipal Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
Section 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council of the City of Costa Mesa hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect on the 31st day after adoption.
Section 7. Certification. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be published or posted in the manner required by law.
Section 8. Transmit Ordinance to HCD. The City Clerk is directed to send a copy of this ordinance to the Department of Housing and Community Development within 60 days of the adoption of this Ordinance.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this _____ day of ________, 2025
_________________________________
John Stephens, Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM
______________________________ ________________________________ Brenda Green, City Clerk Kimberly Hall Barlow, City Attorney STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss
CITY OF COSTA MESA )
I, Brenda Green, City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of Ordinance No. 2025-xx ____ introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa held on the ____ day of _____, 2025, and was thereafter adopted at a regular meeting held on the _____ day of _______, 2025, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Said ordinance has been published or posted pursuant to law.
Witness my hand and the official seal of the City of Costa Mesa this ____ day of _______, 2025. _______________________________
Brenda Green, City Clerk
Ordinance No. 2025-xx Page 2 of 4
Ordinance No. 2025-xx Page 2 of 4
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