Buellton Planning Commission refurbishes ADU policy to meet state standards

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A state agency is calling for Buellton to carve out more elbow room than past years for homeowners seeking to retrofit their property with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU).

In 2022, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) reviewed Buellton’s ADU ordinance—last updated in 2020—and singled out a few restrictions as inconsistent with state policy. 

During its April 3 meeting, the Buellton Planning Commission reviewed some of the statutes under scrutiny, including a rule that requires homeowners with vehicular access to a handful of streets in the city to provide one off-street parking spot per proposed ADU. 

The rule applies to stand-alone units detached from the main house and those contained entirely within the primary residence, such as a converted garage, Associate Planner Cara Miralles explained at the meeting

“This restriction was placed in our 2020 ordinance due to concerns about traffic flow impacts in certain areas. HCD in their review commented that they did not accept the city’s concerns as suitable justification,” Miralles said. “They suggested the city provide a detailed analysis of these traffic flow impacts.”

Despite some “well-documented concerns at the time” about traffic congestion on Zaca Street, 1st Street, 2nd Street, and a few other roadways, city staff concluded that “no adequate evidence could be provided to HCD that they would likely accept,” Miralles told the Planning Commission.

After HCD’s 2022 review, Buellton dedicated a section of its general plan housing element update—adopted by the Buellton City Council in May 2023—to revising its ADU ordinance. Staff implemented the program with a list of proposed revisions, including a removal of the off-street parking requirement, for the Planning Commission to weigh in on before reaching the City Council.

Before voting 4-0 in favor of staff’s proposal, the Planning Commission also discussed floor space and height requirement amendments for certain ADU projects, which were attached to the commission’s recommendation moving forward to the City Council. Planning Commissioner Shannon Reese said the aim of the revised ordinance should be “to be as permissive as possible if people are doing one [ADU], and as restrictive as possible if they’re doing more than one.”

If the City Council sides with staff and the Planning Commission on adopting a revised ordinance, no area “zoned to allow single-family or multi-family dwelling residential use” in the city will be subject to the current off-street parking rule, aside from some rare exceptions that meet several qualifications, Associate Planner Miralles pointed out.

“Parking can only be required in very certain circumstances, so in a vast majority of the city, we really can’t require parking for ADUs,” Miralles said. “An example of where we could require parking would be for a detached one-bedroom ADU that’s over 800 square feet, … proposed on a lot of an existing home which is within a half mile of a bus stop. 

“So, not a lot of parcels are going to meet that specific circumstance where we could require parking.”

This article appears in Apr 10-20, 2025.