City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Meeting Date: September 15, 2025
Report #:2507-4989
TITLE
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) – 2025 Quarter 2 (April– June 2025) Report
RECOMMENDATION
This is an informational report, and no action is required.
ANALYSIS
This report transmits information related to application activity for accessory dwelling units (ADU), including junior accessory dwelling units (JADU), for the second quarter of calendar year 2025. Since 2015, the City has received 887 ADU/JADU building permit applications and issued 690 building permits. Since the beginning of the Housing Element cycle in 2023, 243 ADUs and 73 JADUs have been permitted which is on pace to exceed the expected ADU production from this Housing Element; for an average of 126 units per year.
In the first half of 2025, the City received 87 new applications, issued 63 ADU permits, and provided an approved Final Inspection on 80 ADU/JADU permits. The ADU sizes of open applications in this period range from 176 to 1,000 square feet, with an average size of 570 square feet. Approximately 38% of applications are located north of Oregon Expressway, and 62% are located south of Oregon Expressway. Since 2017, the majority of ADU/JADU permits relative to the Oregon Expressway has shifted between north and south from year to year.
Further details can be found on Table 1 of the following page.
Table 1: Summary of ADU Permits from 2015-2025
Category 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
(Q1-Q2)
New ADU Applications Filed1 10 9 28 55 75 78 136 151 122 136 87 Permits: Ready to Issue (City
Approved)2 8 5 12 39 62 46 112 127 135 131 64
Permits: Issued (Permit Obtained)3 8 5 12 36 62 43 89 120 125 128 63 Permits: Final Inspection Approved4 3 4 9 12 33 46 37 62 101 105 80 Permits Expired 1 1 1 6 2
Detached ADUs (Submitted)5 20 35 52 52 80 80 48 53 36
Detached ADUs (Issued)5 8 24 41 33 55 64 57 48 20
Attached ADUs (Submitted)6 8 20 23 20 56 44 43 47 30
Attached ADUs (Issued)6 4 11 21 9 34 32 40 52 21
Junior ADUs (Submitted)7 1 1 1 25 27 31 36 21
Junior ADUs (Issued)7 1 1 1 9 24 28 24 22
Average Application Processing
Time (Days Including Weekends)8 127 214 118 183 135 197 162 193 187 193 188 Average Construction Time (Days
Including Weekends)9 578 751 330 287 173 262 455 431 496 519 459
City Impact Fees Collected for New
ADUs10 $451,514 $402,012 $198,962 $44,057 $139,592 $540,453 $487,322 $498,101 $310,952 ADU Size Smallest 150 SF 159 SF 220 SF 208 SF 178 SF 192 SF 227 SF 165 SF 176 SF ADU Size Largest 900 SF 900 SF 1,031 SF 1,000 SF 1,218 SF 2,217 SF 1,000 SF 1,000 SF 1,000 SF Average ADU Size 470 SF 469 SF 383 SF 518 SF 550 SF 589 SF 571 SF 558 SF 570 SF North 46% 49% 52% 55% 49% 52% 41% 44% 38%ADU Location Relative to Oregon Expressway South 54% 51% 48% 45% 51% 48% 59% 56% 62% Source: City of Palo Alto Accela Data January 2015 through June 2025 Notes:
1. Any ADU/JADU Application SUBMITTED for the year
2. Any ADU/JADU application Permit 'READY TO Issue' for the year (regardless of when it was submitted)
3. Any ADU/JADU Permit ISSUED for the year (regardless of when it was submitted)
4. Any ADU/JADU Permit receiving a Final Inspection (Ready to Occupy) for the year, regardless of when the application was submitted. Years 2015-2017 data point not available.
Table 1: Summary of ADU Permits from 2015-2025
5. Any Detached ADU Permit Application submitted for the year/Any Detached ADU Permit Issued for the year, regardless of when the application was submitted. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
6. Any Attached ADU Permit Application submitted for the year/Any Attached ADU Permit Issued for the year, regardless of when the application was submitted. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
7. Any JADU Permit Application submitted for the year/Any JADU Permit Issued for the year, regardless of when the application was submitted. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
8. Average number of days from permit application submittal to when permit is approved and ready to issue. This average includes weekends and days application is pending due to applicant preparation of resubmittal or additional information from applicant.
9. Average number of days from permit issued to final inspection completed. This average includes weekends and days staff is waiting for applicant to schedule the next required inspection; it also includes time related to the construction of a primary residence when the J/ADU is built at the same time.
10. Impact Fees collected for ADU’s permitted for the year. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
This action has no fiscal impact.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Q2 2025 ADU Location Data Table
APPROVED BY: Jonathan Lait, Planning and Development Services Director