Accessory dwelling unit (ADU)
"Accessory dwelling unit" (ADU) means an attached or a detached residential dwelling unit which provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, and is located on a lot with a proposed or existing primary residence. An ADU shall include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation on the same parcel as the primary residence is or will be situated. An ADU attached to an existing dwelling shall not exceed fifty (50) percent of the existing living area of the primary residence. A detached ADU shall not exceed one thousand two hundred (1,200) square feet in floor area. An ADU also includes the following: (a) An efficiency unit, as defined in Section 17958.1 of Health and Safety Code; and (b) a manufactured home, as defined in Section 18007 of the Health and Safety Code.
Accessory non-dwelling building
“Accessory non-dwelling building” shall mean an uninhabited non-residential building that is incidental and accessory to the primary residential use of the subject property. Such structures include, but are not limited to, the following: detached garage, detached workshop, pool house or cabanas, game room/exercise studio, artist studio, and storage building.
Accessory structure
“Accessory structure” shall mean a detached subordinate structure or building located on the same parcel as the main building and designed and intended for a use which is subordinate to the use of the main building.
Accessory structure conversion
Conversion of an existing accessory structure from a non-habitable and non-work use, such as a garage or storage shed, to a habitable or work use such as a second unit or artist studio.
Accessory use
“Accessory use” shall mean a use lawfully permitted in the zone, which use is incidental to, and subordinate to, the principal use of the site or of a main building on the site and serving a purpose which does not change the character of the principal use, and which is compatible with other principal uses in the same zone and with the purpose of such zone.
Animal keeping
The keeping, feeding or raising of animals as a commercial agricultural venture, avocation, hobby or school project, either as a principal land use or subordinate to a residential use. Includes the keeping of common farm animals, small-animal specialties, bee farms, aviaries, worm farms, household pets, etc.
Bed and Breakfast (B&B)
See definition in Section 8-2.307.
Cabana or pool house
A building that is located adjacent to a swimming pool and is designed for the dressing and showering of pool users.
Cottage food operation
Cottage food operations involve the preparation of low risk food products in a private home, as defined and regulated by the Environmental Health Division according to the requirements of State law (AB 1616, 2012, the California Homemade Food Act).
Dwelling
“Dwelling” shall mean any building, or portion thereof, containing one (1) or more dwelling units designed or used exclusively as a residence or sleeping place for one or more families, but not including a tent, cabin, boat, trailer, recreational vehicle, dormitory, labor camp, hotel, or motel.
Dwelling, multiple-family
“Multiple-family dwelling” shall mean a building, or portion thereof, containing three (3) or more dwelling units, including apartments and flats, but excluding rooming houses, boardinghouses, lodging houses, motels, mobile home parks, hotels, fraternity and sorority houses, and private residence clubs.
Dwelling, single-family
“Single-family dwelling” shall mean a building containing exclusively one (1) dwelling unit.
Dwelling, two-family or duplex
“Two-family or duplex dwelling” shall mean a building containing exclusively two (2) dwelling units under a common roof.
Dwelling unit
“Dwelling unit” shall mean one (1) room or a suite of two (2) or more rooms designed for, intended for, or used by one (1) family, which family lives, sleeps, and cooks therein, and which unit has at least one (1) kitchen or kitchenette.
Efficiency Unit
"Efficiency Unit" means a unit that has a living area of not less than two hundred twenty (220) square feet of floor area with an additional one hundred (100) square feet provided for each occupant of the unit in excess of two (2). The unit shall be provided with a kitchen sink, cooking appliance, refrigeration facilities, a separate closet, and a separate bathroom containing a water closet, lavatory, and bathtub or shower.
Game/exercise/play room
A building separate from the primary structure that is designed to provide indoor recreation for the occupants of the primary structure.
Garage, private
An accessory building or portion of a main building designed for the storage of self-propelled passenger vehicles, camping trailers, or boats belonging to the owners or occupants of the site and their guests, or an enclosed area for the same use as a private parking area. “Detached garage” shall mean a building separate from the primary structure that is designed for the storage of passenger vehicles, utility or recreational trailers, or boats.
Gazebo
A stand-alone unenclosed shade structure, with a solid or trellis roof, usually open on the sides, used for outdoor living and not for storage purposes.
Greenhouse
“Greenhouse” shall mean an agricultural structure, with transparent or translucent roof and/or wall panels intended for the raising of agricultural plants. “Greenhouse” shall also mean a residential accessory structure, with transparent or translucent roof and/or wall panels intended for the raising of household plants.
Group or Co-housing
“Group or co-housing” shall mean a cooperative or similar collaborative housing development, featuring housing units clustered around a common area and shared kitchen, with additional small meal preparation areas.
Home Occupation
A use which is customarily carried on within a dwelling or manufactured/modular home by the inhabitants thereof, which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use of the dwelling or manufactured/modular home, and which meets the criteria of Sec. 8-2.506(e).
Junior accessory dwelling unit
"Junior accessory dwelling unit" (JADU) means a unit that is no more than five hundred (500) square feet in size and contained entirely within a single-family residence. A junior accessory dwelling unit may include separate sanitation facilities, or may share sanitation facilities with the [primary] structure.
Kitchen or kitchenette
Any space used or intended or designed to be used for cooking and preparing food, whether the cooking unit is permanent or temporary and portable.
Large domestic animals or fowl
“Large domestic animals or fowl” shall mean and include domestic horses, burros, and mules (family Equidac), domestic swine (family Suidac); domestic cattle, sheep, and goats (family Bovidac), and all fowl, such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys, that do not constitute wild, exotic, dangerous, or prohibited animals; and American bison.
Living quarters
“Living quarters” shall mean one (1) or more rooms in a building designed for, intended for, or used by, one or more individuals for living or sleeping purposes but which does not have cooking facilities.
Miscellaneous accessory structure
An uninhabited building or facility that is incidental and accessory to the primary residential use of the subject property, other than accessory housing or accessory non-dwelling structures. Such structures include, but are not limited to, the following: pool/spa, attached patio cover, gazebo, animal enclosure, and automobile cover.
Office, temporary sales
A temporary structure erected or a mobile home parked on a residentially-zoned parcel and used to facilitate the sale of homes within the same subdivision or an adjacent subdivision.
Patio cover or sunshade, attached or unattached
An unenclosed roof structure attached or unattached to a principal dwelling and intended to provide shade to a patio deck or other area.
Play house
“Play house” shall mean a structure with no electrical or plumbing connections that is enclosed (either with solid material, screening, cloth, or other material) on the three (3) or more sides for the use of children’s play and that is not be used for storage.
Second or outdoor kitchen
An outdoor space that contains (singly or in any combination) or has electrical and/or plumbing outlets sufficient to support a stove, range, oven, sink, or dishwasher.
Second unit, attached
“Second unit, attached” shall mean a separate, self-contained dwelling unit that shares at least one (1) common wall with a primary residential structure allowed in addition to the primary dwelling on residentially-zoned parcels as provided by Section 65852.2 of the California Government Code.
Second unit, detached
“Second unit, detached” shall mean a separate, self-contained dwelling unit allowed in addition to the primary dwelling on residentially-zoned parcels as provided by Section 65852.2 of the California Government Code.
Small domestic animal
“Small domestic animal” shall mean and include all dogs, cats, domesticated rabbits, pot-bellied pigs under twenty-two (22) inches in size at the shoulder and the following types of birds: macaws, eclectus, cockatoos and amazons.
Storage building
A building separate from the primary structure that is designed for the storage of miscellaneous household goods and materials including, but not limited to, food, lumber, construction materials, household chemicals, personal records, furniture, pet supplies, and books.
Supportive Housing
“Supportive Housing” shall mean housing with no limit on length of stay, that is occupied by the target population and that is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing resident in retaining the housing, improving his or her health status, and maximizing his or her ability to live and, when possible, work in the community, as defined in Section 50675.14 of the California Health and Safety Code. Supportive housing units are residential uses subject only to those requirements and restrictions that apply to other residential uses of the same type in the same zone.
Temporary accessory building
A structure erected on a non-permanent foundation that would remain on the subject property for a specified purpose and time period. Such structures include, but are not limited to, the following: temporary sales office.
Transitional Housing
“Transitional Housing” shall mean rental housing operated under program requirements that call for the termination of assistance and recirculation of the assisted unit to another eligible program recipient at some predetermined future point in time, which shall be no less than six (6) months, and in no case more than two (2) years, as defined in Section 50675.2 of the California Health and Safety Code. Transitional housing units are residential uses subject only to those requirements and restrictions that apply to other residential uses of the same type in the same zone.
Vehicle cover or carport
A structure composed of wood, metal, concrete, stucco, canvas, heavy plastic, or other material, supported by columns or poles, that is erected on a permanent or non-permanent foundation for the purpose of covering a vehicle and protecting it from sun and rain.
Wild, dangerous, exotic, or prohibited animal
“Wild, dangerous, exotic, or prohibited animal” shall mean and include all animals, the keeping of which requires a permit from the Department of Fish and Game of the State pursuant to Section 2118 of the Fish and Game Code of the State, and shall also include roosters, peacocks, geese, stallions, and bulls. “Wild, exotic, dangerous, or prohibited animal” shall not include any animal which is accessory to a circus or carnival for which a use permit has been issued pursuant to other sections of the County Code.
Workshop, detached
A building separate from the primary structure designed for the storage and use of tools associated with handicrafts such as carpentry, welding, electronics assembly, or other similar activities.
(Ord. 1445, eff. August 14, 2014; as amended by § 6, Ord. 1466, eff. March 24, 2016; as amended by § 3, Ord. 1497, eff. June 7, 2018; as amended by § 3, Ord. 1522, eff. August 6, 2020; as amended by § 3, Ord. 1547, eff. March 10, 2022)