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Glendale ADU Rules: What the City Currently Cannot Enforce
Glendale cannot currently enforce three of its own accessory dwelling unit rules, including the ban on building an ADU above a detached garage. That is not a matter of opinion. It follows from a Memorandum of Understanding the city signed with the California Department of Housing and Community Development on October 3, 2025, after three rounds of state findings that Glendale's ADU ordinance violated state law. The city has been working to bring its own rules into compliance since a state findings letter identified 16 non-compliant provisions in December 2023, and the process still is not finished.
What Does Glendale's ADU Ordinance Currently Allow?
Glendale Municipal Code section 30.34.080 governs accessory dwelling units on single-family lots. A property with one existing home may add a Junior ADU, carved from existing space inside the house, up to 500 square feet, or a second type of ADU built as a conversion, an addition, or new construction, up to 1,000 square feet. An ADU of 800 square feet or less gets a 4-foot setback from interior property lines; a detached ADU tops out at 16 feet, or 18 feet within half a mile of a major transit stop. Units over 850 square feet need a second bedroom, and any ADU under 750 square feet skips the roughly $5,000 development impact fee. This summary comes from the city's own ADU page, last updated November 7, 2025, which states plainly that GMC 30.34.080 supersedes anything the page itself says.
Why Did the State Find the Ordinance Illegal?
Glendale adopted its ADU ordinance as Ordinance No. 5997 on November 15, 2022. HCD reviewed it under Government Code section 65852.2, subdivision (h), and issued written findings on December 7, 2023, listing 16 provisions that did not comply with state ADU law. A few examples show the range of the problem. The ordinance required new ADUs to be "architecturally compatible" with the main house, a subjective standard, where state law requires objective standards only. It applied minimum dwelling-unit sizes of 600 to 1,000 square feet to ADUs, when state law defines a valid efficiency ADU at 150 square feet. And it required a recorded covenant before the city would approve an ADU permit at all, a condition state law reserves for Junior ADUs, not standard ADUs.
What Changed With the December 2024 Amendment?
The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 6034 and a companion General Plan amendment, Ordinance No. 6035, on December 3, 2024, along with Resolution No. 24-189, which asserted that certain other parts of the ordinance already complied. The amendment resolved most, but not all, of HCD's findings. HCD met with the city again on August 7, 2025, to repeat that Glendale remained out of compliance, then sent written follow-up findings on August 15, 2025, naming three provisions the city had kept.
Which Three Rules Can Glendale Not Enforce Right Now?
Under the October 3, 2025 MOU, Glendale agreed to stop enforcing three specific bans while it prepares a further amendment:
| Provision the city cannot enforce | What it means for a lot |
|---|---|
| Ban on an ADU above a detached garage | A second-story ADU over an existing or new detached garage cannot be denied on this basis alone |
| Ban on a detached ADU where the lot has an "accessory living quarters" | A property that already has a legal accessory living quarters can still add a detached ADU |
| Ban on pairing certain unit types under Government Code section 66323 | Specific combinations of ADU types on single-family and multifamily lots cannot be refused on this basis |
The MOU states the forbearance runs "from the Effective Date of this MOU until the occurrence of either" a failed council vote on an amended ordinance or the effective date of a compliant one. In practice, that means an application relying on one of these three provisions is decided under state ADU law, not the city's own text, for as long as the forbearance lasts.
How Long Does This Arrangement Last?
The MOU set two deadlines. Glendale had to submit a draft amended ordinance to HCD no later than January 15, 2026, and had to put introduction of that ordinance on a City Council agenda, with a vote at the next regular meeting, no later than March 31, 2026. Both dates have now passed. Nothing found in this research confirms whether the Council adopted a compliant amendment on schedule, whether the timeline slipped, or whether HCD accepted the result. Anyone relying on the forbearance for an active project should confirm the ordinance's current status directly with Glendale Planning, since the three-provision carve-out described above is tied to events that may since have changed it.
How Did a Single Complaint Trigger a Three-Year Review?
Glendale banned ADUs above detached garages by council vote in December 2020, citing privacy concerns for neighbors. Resident Alex Khatchaturian, who wanted to build one for his mother-in-law, challenged the ban and brought it to HCD's attention after the state had already updated ADU law in 2022 to permit two-story units. That complaint led to HCD's first informal contact with the city in March 2022, then the formal findings letter in December 2023, a Notice of Potential Violation in April 2024, and a Notice of Violation in June 2024 that HCD says made the ordinance null and void under Government Code section 66316 pending a fix. Details of the sequence, including comments from the city attorney and Khatchaturian, are covered in Glendale News-Press reporting from October 2025.
What Should a Buyer or Builder Check Before Relying on These Rules?
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Ask Glendale Planning whether the March 2026 amendment passed | The three-provision forbearance changes once a compliant ordinance takes effect |
| Confirm which of the three provisions applies to your plan | Only the garage, accessory-living-quarters, and unit-mix bans are covered by the MOU |
| Ask whether a covenant is required for a standard ADU | HCD's 2023 findings said no; confirm the current form Planning uses |
| Get any denial that cites a challenged provision in writing | A denial resting on one of the three provisions may not be enforceable while forbearance is in effect |
Buyers comparing ADU potential across nearby cities can also see how neighboring Burbank handles the same question in Burbank vs Los Angeles ADU rules. A Glendale lot with unresolved ADU permit history is also a reasonable candidate for a home valuation before listing, since a buyer's lender or appraiser may ask about it directly. Buyers starting a search with ADU potential in mind can start with what to look for when buying.
Q: Does the MOU void the rest of Glendale's ADU ordinance?
No. The forbearance in the MOU is narrow and covers only the three provisions named above. The rest of GMC 30.34.080, as amended in December 2024, remains in effect unless a planner or HCD says otherwise for a specific application.
Q: What if an ADU permit was denied before October 2025 for one of these three reasons?
The MOU does not by itself reopen a closed application. Contact Glendale Planning to ask whether the project can be resubmitted under the current forbearance terms.
This article is general information about Los Angeles County municipal ordinances and state housing law, not legal or land use advice. Ordinance numbers, settlement terms, and compliance deadlines change. Confirm current requirements with the City of Glendale Community Development Department before relying on any figure here. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on the neighbourhood and its jurisdiction in the Glendale area guide.