CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
DATE: JANUARY 14, 2026 PUBLIC HEARING
SUBJECT: AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS AMENDING SECTION 93.23.14 OF THE PALM
SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO ACCESSORY DWELLING
UNITS AND JUNIOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS TO COMPLY
WITH RECENT CHANGES IN STATE LAW, AND FINDING THE ACTION
TO BE STATUTORILY EXEMPT FROM CEQA UNDER PUBLIC
RESOURCES CODE § 21080.17
FROM: Scott C. Stiles, City Manager
BY: Department of Planning Services
SUMMARY:
This is a request to adopt an urgency ordinance that will amend Section 93.23.14 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code to comply with recent changes to state law. These changes impose new limits on local authority to regulate Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs). Except as otherwise noted, these new laws took effect on January 1, 2026.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Find that the adoption of the proposed urgency ordinance is statutorily exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Public Resources Code § 21080.17.
2. Waive full reading and adopt by title only an urgency ordinance entitled: “AN
URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 93.23.14 OF THE PALM
SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
AND JUNIOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS TO COMPLY WITH RECENT
CHANGES IN STATE LAW, AND FINDING THE ACTION TO BE STATUTORILY EXEMPT FROM CEQA UNDER PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE § 21080.17.” BACKGROUND:
In recent years, the California Legislature has approved, and the Governor has signed
City Council Staff Report
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3 into law a number of bills that impose new limits on local authority to regulate ADUs and JADUs. In late 2025, four new bills were enacted that further amend state ADU law, as summarized below.
AB 462 – Coastal Development Permits; Disaster-Affected Areas AB 462 modifies several permitting requirements associated with processing Coastal Development Permits (CDP) for ADUs located in the Coastal Zone, which of course do not apply here. AB 462 does apply to Palm Springs, however, where it modifies the rules governing the issuance of a certificate of occupancy (C of O) for an ADU when certain conditions are met.
Historically, state law has prohibited a local agency from issuing a C of O for an ADU before one is issued for the primary dwelling (i.e., the primary dwelling must have a C of O 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 C of O before the primary dwelling. In all other scenarios, the primary dwelling still needs a C of O 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 took 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).) This prohibition, along with the prohibition of ADUs from being used as short term-rentals, has already been enacted in Palm Springs. (See PSMC § 93.23.14((E)(4)). Now, the prohibition is also required by state law.
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 SB 9 and SB 543 have now introduced a penalty for failing to do so. Now, if a local ADU ordinance is not submitted to HCD within 60 days of adoption, the local ordinance is rendered null and void. (See amended Gov. Code, § 66326(d); new Gov. Code, § 66333.5(d).) The bills further specify that a local ADU City Council Staff Report
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3 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. (Id.) SB 543 – ADU Size; Number of ADUs; Impact Fees; Permitting 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 section 66314 through 66322 from being at least 800 square feet.
SB 543 amends state ADU law to resolve confusion and 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.) Quantity of ADUs Created Under Government Code Section 66323 ADU and JADU development generally require both a building permit and an ADU permit.
Existing state law creates four categories of ADUs that must be approved for an ADU permit (and thereby require only a building permit) 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 these four categories could be combined. Some practitioners interpreted the statute to not require local agencies to allow combinations. This is the position HCD initially took as published City Council Staff Report
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3 in its 2020 ADU Handbook. For the last few years, however, HCD has taken the opposite position and supported the 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 now 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;
(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].)
STAFF ANALYSIS:
AB 462 took effect immediately when signed but technically does not require any change to a local ordinance; the City just needs to allow a C of O for an ADU to issue before a C of O for the primary dwelling, if applicable. The remaining bills took effect on January 1, 2026. For the City to be able to enforce its ADU ordinance, it must comply with the requirements of these bills. Until it does so through the adoption of the proposed urgency Ordinance, PSMC section 93.23.14 is null and void as a matter of law. Without the ability to apply local regulations governing height, setback, landscape, and architectural review, among other things, ADU development threatens the character of existing neighborhoods and negatively impacts property values, personal privacy, and fire safety.
As a result, the proposed ordinance is an urgency measure, which means it will take City Council Staff Report
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3 immediate effect upon adoption. Typically, an ordinance affecting planning and zoning is approved by the Council after a planning-agency recommendation, a first reading and introduction before the Council and then a second reading at a regular Council meeting, taking effect thereafter 30 days following adoption. Here, it is necessary for the City Council to adopt this ordinance as an urgency measure because the new ADU laws are now in effect. The urgency ordinance will be followed at the earliest possible time by a non-urgency ordinance subject to all normal procedures.
For the above reasons, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed urgency ordinance (Attachment A), which will ensure that the City’s ADU ordinance is valid and enforceable. Following adoption of the urgency ordinance, staff will take a regular ordinance to the Planning Commission for input prior to returning to Council for ordinary and permanent adoption of these changes.
The requested amendments are illustrated in the attached draft ordinance (Attachment B) that underscores all additions and strikes through all deletions.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
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 Chapter 13 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the California Government Code, which is California’s ADU law.
Therefore, the adoption of the proposed urgency Ordinance is statutorily exempt from CEQA in that it implements state ADU law.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLANNING:
This item aligns with the following City Council Strategic Plan Foundation: Housing.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
REVIEWED BY:
Department Director: Christopher Hadwin
Assistant City Manager: Flinn Fagg
City Attorney: Jeffrey S. Ballinger
City Manager: Scott Stiles
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Draft Urgency Ordinance
B. Draft Ordinance illustrating additions and deletions