If you’re planning an accessory dwelling unit in Lakewood, the proposed ordinance would change the height and floor area you can plan around. The staff report describes lower local limits alongside updates required by state law. For a purchase involving an ADU, those proposed limits also deserve a close read before you rely on plans for the property.
This is general information and not legal advice.
As of the City Council agenda for October 27, 2026, Ordinance No. 2026-5 was scheduled for a public hearing and introduction, not adoption. This page has not verified whether it was introduced or when a final vote is scheduled.
What is Lakewood proposing?
Lakewood proposes to reorganize and update its rules for ADUs, junior accessory dwelling units, and second primary units under SB9.
The City of Lakewood Council agenda lists the proposal as public hearing item 1.1. Its recommended action includes taking evidence and introducing the ordinance. That agenda does not establish adoption or an effective date.
According to the Community Development staff report, the proposal covers districts allowing single-family homes and those allowing attached multifamily homes. It would gather additional dwelling unit rules into one Code section, clarify definitions, and describe processing procedures.
The Development Review Board recommended approval on July 15, 2026. The Planning and Environment Commission later recommended adoption.
Why is the city updating these rules?
The staff report says Lakewood is responding to state-law changes while seeking to preserve the local control legally available.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development sent Community Development a letter on May 11, 2026. According to the report, HCD last reviewed Lakewood’s ADU and JADU regulations in 2023. Its letter suggested the ordinance might be outdated and out of compliance because of subsequent state-law changes, and listed more than 20 changes needing attention. That was the concern described in the letter, rather than a compliance determination established here.
The report says the proposal reduces existing local standards to the minimum standards allowed by state law. It specifically describes lower roofs and reduced allowable interior livable space.
For background on the different unit types, see the ADU rules guide.
How would height and size limits change?
The staff report describes lower maximum heights for ADUs in the R-1 zone and smaller maximum areas for detached ADUs and SB9 units.
Its listed local changes are:
- Detached ADU maximum height in R-1 would fall from 35 feet to 16 feet.
- Attached ADU maximum height in R-1 would fall from 35 feet to 25 feet.
- SB9 unit maximum area would fall from 1,200 square feet to 800 square feet.
- Detached ADU maximum area would fall from 1,200 square feet to 1,000 square feet.
Those are the staff report’s summaries. The draft ordinance contains additional qualifications. Its attached ADU wording limits height to 25 feet or the host structure’s height, whichever is less. It also describes an 18-foot detached ADU allowance within one half mile of specified transit, with two additional feet for matching roof pitch.
The full draft has not been reviewed for this page. Read it and ask Community Development about the provisions for your parcel before designing.
What would this mean for a design?
Your design would need to account for the proposed limits and the provisions that apply to the particular lot.
Area measurement matters too. The staff report identifies “interior livable space” as the measurement used in the state-law updates and says the proposal clarifies that term and gross floor area.
A separate Lakewood land-use proposal is covered in the church-site rezoning guide. Check the rules relevant to your property rather than treating different city proposals as interchangeable.
A Lakewood owner asked me whether he should wait for the new ADU ordinance before paying for plans. He had space behind the house and already had a contractor giving him ideas, but the ordinance had only been introduced. We talked about the difference between a proposal before the council and the rules the city could actually apply to his project.
What state-law changes does the report list?
The report lists changes involving unit counts, application completeness, rentals, parking replacement, and certain unpermitted units.
It describes four types of ADUs exempt from local objective standards and a total of four dwelling units on any single-family lot. For multifamily residential projects, it lists up to eight detached ADUs on existing projects and up to two on proposed projects. It also identifies conversion of non-habitable multifamily space at one ADU per four existing units.
These are report summaries, so check the full ordinance for the provisions governing a particular project.
The application change is narrower than a permit deadline: the report describes reducing review from 30 days to 15 days to determine whether an application is complete. Don’t use that as a construction or permit approval schedule.
The report also says demolished off-street parking used to construct ADUs does not have to be replaced. That statement alone does not answer every parking question for a parcel.
What changes concern rentals and shared bathrooms?
The staff report says ADU and JADU rentals must be for 31 days or longer, and the JADU owner-occupancy requirement is deleted unless the unit shares a bathroom.
The draft ordinance says a JADU without its own bathroom must share one with the primary dwelling through an internal door. In that arrangement, the owner must occupy either the JADU or the primary host dwelling.
For a purchase, the bathroom arrangement therefore matters to the proposed occupancy rules. Check the actual configuration against the full ordinance with Community Development before relying on a rental plan.
What should buyers and sellers check about existing units?
Buyers and sellers should check the unit’s permit status and the rules relevant to it before relying on the proposed ordinance.
The staff report describes a state-law change prohibiting denial of an unpermitted ADU or JADU constructed before January 1, 2020. It says the city can enforce only health and safety standards that would make that unit substandard. This summary does not establish the status of a particular unit.
The sources reviewed here do not address what happens to existing permitted ADUs. They do not establish that those units become illegal under the proposed limits.
For related disclosure questions, read the California unpermitted-work disclosure guide. Before buying or designing, ask Community Development to address the full ordinance, including setbacks, parking, size provisions for the lot, and fees. Those details have not been verified here.
The short version
Lakewood’s proposal combines state-law updates with lower local height and size limits described in the staff report.
The October 27 agenda scheduled introduction, not adoption. Check the ordinance’s current status and full text with Community Development before committing to a design or relying on an ADU plan in a purchase.
You can check what your Lakewood home is worth with the home value tool.
Common questions
Has Lakewood adopted Ordinance No. 2026-5?
The October 27, 2026 City Council agenda scheduled a public hearing and introduction, not adoption. This page has not verified whether introduction occurred or when a final vote is scheduled.
What ADU height changes does the staff report describe?
The staff report describes reducing detached ADU maximum height in the R-1 zone from 35 feet to 16 feet and attached ADU maximum height from 35 feet to 25 feet. The draft contains additional height provisions, so check the full ordinance with Community Development.
Would the proposed ordinance reduce maximum unit sizes?
The staff report describes reducing the maximum area from 1,200 to 800 square feet for SB9 units and from 1,200 to 1,000 square feet for detached ADUs.
Does the 15-day review change mean a permit is approved?
No. The staff report describes a state-law change reducing application review from 30 days to 15 days to be deemed complete. It does not give a permit approval deadline.
Would a JADU still require owner occupancy?
The staff report says the JADU owner-occupancy requirement is deleted unless the JADU shares a bathroom. The draft says that when a bathroom is shared, the owner must occupy either the JADU or the primary host dwelling.
