Journal ·
Burbank vs Los Angeles ADU Rules: What Changes at the City Line
Two houses can sit across the street from each other, one in Burbank and one in Los Angeles, and the larger backyard unit is legal on only one of them. Burbank stops a detached accessory dwelling unit at 850 square feet, or 1,000 with more than one bedroom. Los Angeles allows an ordinance ADU up to 1,200 square feet. Same state law, opposite ends of the range it gives them.
The gap matters most along Burbank's western and southern edges, where the city line runs through neighbourhoods that look continuous. Weigh a Burbank house against one in North Hollywood or on the Los Angeles side of Toluca Lake and the ADU you can add is not the same project.
How big can an ADU be in Burbank compared to Los Angeles?
State law sets a floor, not a number. Government Code section 66321(b)(2) forbids a city from adopting a maximum smaller than 850 square feet of interior livable space, or 1,000 square feet for a unit with more than one bedroom. The ceiling sits elsewhere: Government Code section 66314(d)(5) says the total floor area of a detached ADU shall not exceed 1,200 square feet.
Burbank adopted the floor. Burbank Municipal Code section 10-1-620.3(F)(2) holds new attached and detached ADUs to 850 square feet, with 1,000 for more than one bedroom, under the ordinance the Council adopted on 7 November 2023 (Ordinance No. 23-4,002), effective 8 December 2023.
One wrinkle makes Burbank's cap tighter than the floor it copies. The state measures interior livable space. Burbank measures wall to wall, counts a covered porch against the total, and counts space over 12 feet in interior height twice. The same number buys less finished room.
Los Angeles took the ceiling. Ordinance 186,481 added Section 12.22 A.33 to its municipal code with effect from 19 December 2019, and City Planning's ZA Memorandum No. 143 puts the limit for an ordinance ADU at 1,200 square feet.
Burbank hands back a little of it. Under subsection (F)(9), each extra on-site parking stall adds up to 120 square feet to one ADU on the lot, to a hard limit of 120, and taking the trade means a deed restriction recorded against the property that bars removing those spaces.
How tall can a detached ADU be in Burbank?
Here the order reverses. Section 66321(b)(4)(A) requires every city to allow at least 16 feet for a detached ADU, and Burbank's subsection (G)(3) allows 17 feet to any architectural feature. Within half a mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor the limit becomes 18 feet, plus two more feet to match the roof pitch of the house.
Build on top of a detached garage and Burbank allows a top of plate at 20 feet and features to 23 feet. Los Angeles works differently: it ties ADU height to the zoning limit already applying to the lot rather than naming one citywide figure, capped at two stories. In a two-story single-family zone that is usually taller than anything Burbank permits in a rear yard.
| Standard | Burbank | Los Angeles | State floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached ADU, max size | 850 sq ft, 1,000 with 2+ bedrooms, measured wall to wall | 1,200 sq ft | 850 / 1,000 interior livable |
| Extra size for added parking | up to 120 sq ft, deed restriction | none | not required |
| Detached height | 17 ft, 18 ft near transit | zoning height of the lot, 2 stories max | 16 ft, 18 ft near transit |
| Side and rear setback | 4 ft | 4 ft | 4 ft |
| Fire-zone cap | 800 sq ft, one unit only | VHFHSZ restrictions apply | none |
| Horsekeeping zone | no new construction | no equivalent zone | none |
| Minimum rental term in code | longer than 90 days | no local provision | longer than 30 days |
| Movable tiny house as ADU | not provided for | allowed, one per lot, one approval a year | not required |
Can you build an ADU in the Burbank hillside or the Rancho?
Two Burbank overlays remove the option almost entirely, and Los Angeles has no counterpart to either.
In the Mountain Fire Zone, subsection (M)(1)(a) allows one ADU of no more than 800 square feet or one junior ADU of no more than 500. The city's own preapproved-program page is blunter still: the Very High Fire Zone is limited to 800 square feet "with no exceptions."
The R-1-H horsekeeping zone goes further. Subsection (N)(1) bars new ADU construction outright. What remains is conversion: an existing permitted garage, an existing permitted guest unit, or existing square footage inside the main house. Converting a barn, stable, tack room, shed or pool house is specifically not permitted, and additions stay outside the rear 35 feet, which the code reserves for horse uses. In the R-1-H horsekeeping zone a listing's "ADU potential" is a claim to verify at the counter.
How long must you rent an ADU in Burbank?
This is the difference that changes cash flow, and the hardest to read straight.
Burbank Municipal Code 10-1-620.3(Q) says ADUs and junior ADUs that are rented "shall be rented for terms longer than 90 days." The state number is lower. Government Code section 66323(e) requires a local agency to demand a rental term longer than 30 days for a unit created under that section.
Los Angeles has no comparable local provision. Its ADU ordinance touches rental only to say a unit may be rented but not sold separately, so the state floor governs there.
The state housing department has looked at ordinances that set a longer minimum. Reviewing Butte County on 20 October 2025, HCD wrote that the 30-day requirement "establishes a minimum," that a county "may be more permissive than state law" for units created under Section 66314, and that if the minimum term for a primary dwelling "is more than 30 days, for example 60 days, this would exceed the maximum standards allowable under State ADU Law" (HCD ordinance review letter). HCD told that county to match "terms of 30 days or longer" at least for units built under Section 66323.
Two limits on how far that carries. The letter concerns another county's code, and its remedy points specifically at Section 66323 units. No such letter has been published about Burbank, and the 90-day line still sits in the adopted code.
That still leaves two official numbers that do not match. If a 90-day floor would break your rental plan, ask the city which number applies to the pathway your unit was approved under, and get the answer in writing before your contingency period ends.
How long does ADU approval take in each city?
Both cities review ministerially, without discretionary hearings. Burbank's subsection (A) commits to deciding a complete application within the 60-day period state law sets, and to returning a written list of defects if it denies.
Burbank also runs a preapproved-plan track under Assembly Bill 1332, the Burbank Preapproved ADU Program. The stated aim is permit issuance in 30 days. The same page's own timeline is less brisk: 30 business days for first review, 15 for each recheck. Garage conversions are excluded, and stacked or side-by-side designs are not accepted yet.
The detail almost nobody checks before making an offer
Burbank's preapproved ADU library holds exactly one design. It is BPAP 24001, a 432-square-foot one-story studio. The city separately accepts a single plan preapproved by Los Angeles Building and Safety, a 360-square-foot studio.
The fast lane exists, and today it runs to two small studios. Plan a two-bedroom unit for a parent and you are not in that lane. That plan goes through standard plan check with Planning, Public Works, both Burbank Water and Power divisions and the Fire Department, plus school facilities fees. New construction at 718 square feet also calls for a photovoltaic system, unless the calculated system comes in under 1.8 kilowatts.
What this means when you compare two houses
Read the lot before the listing copy. Three Burbank questions decide most of it: Mountain Fire Zone, R-1-H zoning, walking distance to qualifying transit. The first caps you at 800 square feet, the second removes new construction, the third buys a foot of height.
Then price the unit you want. A 1,150-square-foot two-bedroom ADU is a Los Angeles project. In Burbank it has to fit 1,000 square feet, or 1,120 with the parking trade and a recorded deed restriction. Only the new construction is reassessed, as the ADU property tax rules set out. Where the boundary itself is unclear, the Burbank or Los Angeles city line question comes first, and the Burbank ADU siting rules cover placement.
Q: Does Burbank allow two ADUs on a single-family lot?
Subsection (B)(2) permits no more than one, unless state law preempts that. A junior ADU of up to 500 square feet counts separately under subsection (P).
Q: Can Burbank require the owner to live on the property?
Not at present. Subsection (I) carries an owner-occupancy covenant but notes that state law bars the city from imposing it. Junior ADUs still require it.
Q: Do I have to replace the garage parking I lose?
No. Subsection (C)(2) states that replacement parking is not required when a garage, carport or covered structure is demolished or converted in conjunction with an ADU.
This is general information about municipal and state code, not legal or tax advice, and code sections change. Verify current standards for your parcel with Burbank Community Development or Los Angeles City Planning. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on this city in the Burbank area guide.