1 TO: City Council
FROM: Andrew Vialpando, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Adrian Fernandez, Community and Economic Development Director
MEETING DATE: February 3, 2026
SUBJECT: Zoning Text Amendment No. 2025-02 – An update to the Lomita Municipal Code Regarding Accessory Dwelling Units and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units to Comply with Recent Changes in State Law
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Waive full reading and introduce for first reading by title only an ordinance entitled: “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Lomita approving Zoning Text Amendment No. 2025-02, amending Section 11-1.30.06 of Lomita Municipal Code (LMC) Title XI (Planning and Zoning) Chapter 1 (Zoning) to comply with recent changes to State law that impose new limits on local authority to regulate Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs), and finding the action to be statutorily exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Public Resources Code Section 21080.17.”
BACKGROUND
On December 16, 2025, the City Council adopted urgency Ordinance No. 879 to update ADU regulations pursuant to recently passed State law. The urgency ordinance took effect immediately allowing the City’s ADU ordinance to remain applicable beyond January 1, 2026.
On January 12, 2026, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the subject item and adopted Resolution No. 2026-02, unanimously recommending that the City Council adopt the proposed non-urgency ordinance. The proposed ordinance would replace the temporary urgency ordinance extending the City’s ADU regulations.
CITY OF LOMITA
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
Item No. 9b
2 AB 462 – Coastal Development Permits; Disaster Affected Areas Assembly Bill (AB) 462 modifies several permitting requirements associated with processing Coastal Development Permits for ADUs located in the Coastal Zone.
Beyond changes to CDP processing, AB 462 modifies the rules governing the issuance of a certificate of occupancy (CofO) for an ADU. Historically, state law has prohibited a local agency from issuing a CofO for an ADU before one is issued for the primary dwelling (i.e., the primary dwelling must have a CofO before the ADU can receive one).
AB 462 creates a narrow exception to this prohibition for detached ADUs when all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) the Governor has declared a state of emergency for the county on or after February 1, 2025; (2) the primary dwelling was substantially damaged or destroyed by an event referenced in the state of emergency proclamation; and (3) the ADU has been issued construction permits and passed all required inspections. (Gov. Code, § 66328(b).) If these conditions are satisfied, the detached ADU can receive a CofO before the primary dwelling.
In all other scenarios, the primary dwelling still needs a CofO before one can be issued for an ADU.
AB 462 was enacted as an urgency measure that took effect immediately when signed by the Governor (on October 10, 2025).
The following three bills were enacted as non-urgency measures and take effect on January 1, 2026.
AB 1154 – JADU Owner-Occupancy; Short-Term Rental
When a JADU is developed, existing state law requires a property owner to reside in the JADU or remaining portion of the single-family dwelling. AB 1154 narrows this requirement to now only apply when a JADU shares sanitation facilities (bathroom) with the single-family dwelling. If the JADU has its own bathroom, then the property owner does not have to reside on the property at all. (See amended Gov. Code, § 66333(b).)
AB 1154 also expressly prohibits JADUs from being used as short-term rentals (i.e., rented for a term shorter than 30 days). (See amended Gov. Code, § 66333(g).) Most ADU ordinances already included this prohibition (as well as prohibiting ADUs from being used as short-term rentals). But now it’s required by state law.
3 SB 9; SB 543 – ADU Ordinance Submittal to HCD; Approval Under existing law, local agencies are required to submit a copy of their ADU ordinance to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) within 60 days of adoption.
This year’s Senate Bill (SB) 9 (different than the SB 9 “lot-splitting” law from 2021) and SB 543 create a penalty for failing to do so by rendering null and void any local ordinance that is not submitted to HCD within 60 days of adoption. (See amended Gov. Code, § 66326(d); new Gov. Code, § 66333.5(d).) The bills further specify that a local ADU ordinance is null and void if HCD issues findings that the ordinance does not comply with state law and the local agency fails to respond to HCD within 30 days.
SB 543 – ADU Size; Number of ADUs; Impact Fees; Application Timeline SB 543 makes numerous changes and clarifications to state ADU law, the most notable of which are summarized below.
ADU & JADU Size
Existing law limits the maximum size of a JADU to 500 square feet and prohibits local ADU ordinances from imposing certain development standards that would prevent an ADU created under Government Code sections 66314 through 66322 from being at least 800 square feet.
SB 543 amends state ADU law to specify that allowable square footage of an ADU or JADU refers to square footage of “interior livable space.” (See amended Gov.
Code, § 66313(d), 66321(b)(2).)
Impact Fees
Existing law exempts ADUS that are 750 square feet or smaller from development impact fees (DIFs).
SB 543 clarifies that DIFs may not be imposed on an ADU that has 750 or fewer square feet of interior livable space or on a JADU with 500 or fewer square feet of interior livable space.
The bill also exempts an ADU or JADU with fewer than 500 square feet of interior livable space from school impact fees. (See amended Gov. Code, § 66311.5.) 4 Quantity of ADUs Created Under Government Code Section 66323 Existing state law creates four categories of ADUs that must be approved if they comply with the limited standards provided in Government Code section 66323(a)(1)–(4). These are:
(1) a converted ADU and JADU created on a lot with a proposed or existing single-family dwelling (Gov. Code, § 66323(a)(1));
(2) a detached ADU created on a lot with a proposed or existing single-family dwelling (Gov. Code, § 66323(a)(2));
(3) converted ADUs created in an existing multifamily dwelling (Gov. Code, § 66323(a)(3)); and
(4) detached ADUs created on a lot with a proposed or existing multifamily dwelling.
For some time, there has been uncertainty as to whether ADUs created under Government Code section 66323 could be combined. Some practitioners interpreted the statute to not require local agencies to allow combinations. Initially, HCD took the same position, in its 2020 ADU Handbook. But for the last few years, HCD has taken the opposite position: that yes, combinations are permitted. (See HCD January 2025 ADU Handbook, at p. 19 [“[P]ursuant to Government Code section 66323, subdivision (a), local governments must allow units created pursuant to subparagraphs (1) and (2) together or (3) and (4) together”].) SB 543 codifies HCD’s most recent interpretation by amending Government Code section 66323 to specifically allow combinations. Thus, a lot with a multifamily dwelling can now have a converted ADU or ADUs created under section 66323(a)(3) and detached ADUs created under section 66323(a)(4). And a lot with a single family dwelling can now have a converted ADU and a JADU created under section 66323(a)(1) and a detached ADU created under section 66323(a)(2).
ADU Permitting Process
Existing law has long required local agencies to approve or deny an ADU application within 60 days of receiving a complete application. However, state law was silent with respect to incompleteness determinations, subsequent resubmittals, and appealing local decisions on ADU applications.
SB 543 requires local agencies to now:
(1) determine whether an ADU application is complete within 15 business days of submittal;
5 (2) if the application is incomplete, within the same 15 days, provide the applicant with a list of incomplete items and how to address them; (3) review a resubmitted application for completeness within 15 business days; (4) provide the applicant with a written appeal process for any incompleteness determination or denial (to the Planning Commission or City Council, or both); and
(5) provide a final written determination on the appeal within 60 business days of receiving the appeal. (See amended Gov. Code, §§ 66317 [ADUs], 66335 [JADUs].)
NEXT STEPS & RECOMMENDATION
AB 462 took effect immediately when signed, but technically it doesn’t require any change to a local ADU ordinance; the City just needs to follow the new rules for CDP processing and issuance of a CofO, if applicable. But the remaining bills take effect January 1, 2026, and for the City’s ADU ordinance to remain valid and enforceable, it must comply with the new changes in state law. Adopting the proposed ordinance (Exhibit A to Attachment 1) ensures that the City’s ADU ordinance will remain in compliance with state law. For these reasons, staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt the attached resolution (Attachment 1), recommending that the City Council adopt the proposed ordinance.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Under California Public Resources Code section 21080.17, CEQA does not apply to the adoption of an ordinance by a city or county implementing the provisions of Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the California Government Code, which is California’s ADU law and which also regulates JADUs, as defined by Section 66313. Therefore, the proposed ordinance is statutorily exempt from CEQA in that the proposed ordinance implements state ADU law.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice of this hearing dated January 23, 2026, was published in The Daily Breeze Newspaper and posted at City Hall, Lomita Park, and on the City’s website.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no financial implications resulting from this recommendation. 6 OPTIONS
1. Approve the attached ordinance.
2. Do not approve the ordinance.
3. Provide staff with further direction.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft Ordinance and Exhibit A (Amended ADU Regulations) Approved by:
______________________
Andrew Vialpando
City Manager
Prepared by:
.
__________________________
Adrian Fernandez, Community and Economic Development Director