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Home My WebLink AboutStaff Report 2507-4989CITY OF PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL Monday, September 15, 2025 Council Chambers & Hybrid 5:30 PM Agenda Item B.Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) – 2025 Quarter 2 (April– June 2025) Report 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 Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. # of Apps 1 Dwelling Type JADU Project Location South Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 1/7/25 Application Status Pending Structure of Space # of Bdrms 1 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage ADU Size 200x Resubmittal 2 3 4 5 6 7 ADU ADU JADU JADU ADU ADU South North South North South North R-1 (8000) R-1 1/10/25 1/13/25 1/14/25 1/27/25 1/28/25 1/28/25 Permit Issued Permit Issued Permit x x x x x x 2 1 1 1 1 2 728 517 493 265 558 944 R-1 (S) R-1 x x Issued Pending Resubmittal Permit Issued Pending Resubmittal R-1 (7000) R-1 8 ADU North R-1 1/30/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 647 9 ADU ADU South North R-1 (8000) R-1 1/30/25 2/3/25 Pending Resubmittal Pending x x 2 1 800 71810 (10000)Resubmittal 11 12 13 ADU JADU ADU North North South R-1 (S)2/4/25 2/5/25 2/6/25 Incomplete x 2 1 2 799 286 745 R-1 Permit Issued Pending Resubmittal x R-1 x x x x14 15 ADU South South R-1 R-1 2/10/25 2/11/25 Pending Resubmittal 1 0 825 389JADUPermit Issued x Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. Structure of Space # of Apps 16 Dwelling Type ADU Project Location North Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 2/11/25 Application Status Pending # of Bdrms 0 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage x ADU Size 787 (10000)Resubmittal 17 ADU South RM-15 2/12/25 Pending x 2 680 Resubmittal 18 19 ADU South North R-1 R-1 2/12/25 2/18/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 0 560 246JADUPendingx Resubmittal 20 21 ADU North South R-1 R-1 2/18/25 2/20/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 0 430 293JADUPermit Issued x x x22JADUSouthR-1 R-1 2/20/25 Pending Resubmittal x 0 230 23 24 ADU ADU South South 2/20/25 2/20/25 In Plan Check Pending Resubmittal x x 2 2 400 781R-1 (8000) 25 ADU South R-1 2/21/25 Permit Issued x 1 545 26 27 28 ADU JADU ADU North South South R-1 R-1 R-1 2/24/25 2/25/25 2/25/25 Permit Issued In Plan Check In Plan Check x x x 1 1 1 748 499 748 Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. Structure# of Apps 29 Dwelling Type ADU Project Location North Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 3/5/25 Application Status Pending # of Bdrms 1 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage x of Space ADU Size 453 Resubmittal 30 31 32 JADU ADU ADU South South North R-1 (S) R-1 3/11/25 3/13/25 3/17/25 Permit Issued Permit x x 1 1 0 395 796 403 x Issued R-1 Pending Resubmittal x x 33 34 ADU North South R-1 R-1 3/18/25 3/19/25 Pending Resubmittal x x 0 0 936 288JADUIn Plan Check 35 ADU South R-1 (8000)3/19/25 Pending Resubmittal x 2 998 36 37 ADU ADU North South R-1 3/19/25 3/20/25 In Plan Check Pending Resubmittal x x 1 1 800 527R-1 (8000) 38 39 ADU ADU South South R-1 3/25/25 3/27/25 Pending Resubmittal x x 1 1 423 749R-1 (8000)(S) Permit Issued x 40 41 42 ADU JADU JADU North South North R-1 3/27/25 3/31/25 3/31/25 Pending Resubmittal x x x 1 1 1 667 420 407 R-1 Pending Resubmittal x R-1 (10000) In Plan Check Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. # of Apps 43 Dwelling Type ADU Project Location South Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 3/31/25 Application Status Pending Structure of Space # of Bdrms 1 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage ADU Size 308x Resubmittal 44 ADU South R-1 4/3/25 Pending x 1 494 Resubmittal 45 46 47 48 ADU ADU ADU ADU South North South North R-1 R-1 R-1 R-1 4/4/25 4/7/25 4/8/25 4/8/25 In Plan Check In Plan x x x x 1 1 2 1 494 360 653 751 Check Pending Resubmittal Pending Resubmittal x 49 50 ADU ADU South South R-1 4/9/25 Pending Resubmittal x x 2 2 700 649R-1 (8000) 4/10/25 In Plan Check 51 52 53 54 JADU JADU ADU ADU North South North South R-1 R-1 R-1 R-1 4/11/25 4/15/25 4/16/25 4/17/25 Pending Resubmittal x x x x 1 1 1 1 457 176 408 748 Pending Resubmittal Pending Resubmittal x Pending Resubmittal 55 JADU South R-1 4/18/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 468 Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. Structure# of Apps 56 Dwelling Type ADU Project Location South Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 4/23/25 Application Status In Plan # of Bdrms 1 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage x of Space ADU Size 794 Check 57 58 ADU North South R-1 4/24/25 4/28/25 Pending Resubmittal Pending Resubmittal x 2 1 924 390JADUR-1 (7000) x x x59 60 ADU ADU South South R-1 R-1 4/28/25 4/29/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 1 495 711Pendingx Resubmittal 61 62 63 ADU JADU ADU South North North R-1 R-1 R-1 4/29/25 5/1/25 5/1/25 Pending Resubmittal Pending Resubmittal Pending x x x 1 0 2 698 401 749 x Resubmittal 64 65 ADU ADU South South R-1 5/7/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 2 747 832RM-30 5/13/25 Pending x x Resubmittal 66 67 ADU ADU North North R-1 (10000) R-1 5/14/25 5/15/25 Incomplete x x 2 2 1,000 650Pending Resubmittal 68 ADU South R-1 (S)5/15/25 In Plan Check x 1 496 Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. # of Apps 69 Dwelling Type JADU Project Location South Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 5/19/25 Application Status Pending Structure of Space # of Bdrms 1 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage ADU Size 498 Resubmittal 70 71 ADU ADU South South R-1 R-1 5/21/25 5/21/25 Pending Resubmittal x 1 1 295 295Pending Resubmittal x 72 73 ADU ADU South South R-1 R-1 5/23/25 5/27/25 In Plan Check Pending Resubmittal x x 0 1 590 716x x74 75 ADU ADU North North R-1 R-1 5/28/25 5/28/25 Pending Resubmittal 2 1 794 273Pendingx Resubmittal 76 77 78 JADU ADU ADU North South South R-1 R-1 5/29/25 6/3/25 6/5/25 In Plan Check In Plan x x x 1 2 1 326 749 540 Check Pending Resubmittal R-1 (8000)(S) 79 80 ADU ADU North South R-1 6/9/25 In Plan Check In Plan Check x x 1 1 559 459R-1 (7000)6/11/25 81 82 ADU South North R-1 R-1 6/13/25 6/19/25 In Plan Check Pending Resubmittal x x 1 1 402 225JADUxx Q1-Q2 2025 ADU/JADUs Submitted New Construction Conversion Type of Conversion Other Acc. # of Apps 83 Dwelling Type ADU Project Location North Zoning District R-1 Date Filed 6/23/25 Application Status Pending Structure of Space # of Bdrms 1 Attached Detached Attached Detached x Garage x ADU Size 341 Resubmittal 84 ADU South R-1 (8000) 6/24/25 In Plan Check x x 1 749 85 86 ADU ADU South North R-1 6/24/25 6/26/25 In Plan Check x 0 1 749 540R-1 Pending Resubmittal x 87 ADU South RE 6/30/25 In Plan Check x 1 795