ADU Pass
Fresno
Fresno County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Fresno, Fresno County, California navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 19 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed
By-right under ministerial review per state law and Fresno Chapter 15 §15-2754. Submittal via Accela Citizen Access.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 400 | $2,800 | $96,000 | $98,800 |
| 600 | 600 | $5,800 | $144,000 | $149,800 |
| midpoint | 700 | $6,800 | $168,000 | $174,800 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $10,500 | $250,000 | $260,500 |
| maximum | 1,200 | $14,000 | $312,000 | $326,000 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Pre-application research (~5d)
Review §15-2754 for size/setback/height; check City of Fresno parcel viewer for zone (RS-1, RS-3, RS-4, RM, RH); confirm parcel is in city not county jurisdiction. - Submit application via Accela Citizen Access (~1d)
Submit at the Accela portal selecting ADU project type. No separate Zone Clearance required (since 2023 program update). Required: site plan, floor plan, elevations, structural plans, Title 24 energy report, soils report if expansive clay. - Plan check intake at Development Services (~7d)
City staff route record for review. Pre-approved-plan applications skip most plan check. - Plan check (Building, Public Works, Fire) (~30d)
Concurrent multi-discipline review. Building & Safety +1-559-621-8058 lead. Typical 1-2 correction cycles for custom plans. - Permit issuance (~5d)
After corrections cleared and fees paid, permit issues via Accela. Total ministerial review limit 60 days from complete submittal per state law. - Construction inspections
Foundation, framing, MEP rough-in, insulation, drywall, final. Inspection requests via Accela Citizen Access. - Certificate of occupancy (~5d)
Final inspection pass triggers CO; ADU eligible for tenancy.
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes (FMC Chapter 15 §15-2754) 30+ day rental of ADU permitted. No rent control in Fresno (Costa-Hawkins exempts new construction in any case).
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions (Fresno Municipal Code STR provisions; Transient Occupancy Tax) Fresno regulates STRs separately - permit and TOT collection. ADU may be used for STR if registered.
- TOT collection required
- Business license required
- Office rental: no ADU use limited to residential dwelling. Commercial office tenancy not permitted in residentially-zoned ADU.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permit available; signage and customer-traffic limits apply.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist/workshop use is a permitted accessory residential use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Backyard agriculture and limited livestock allowed by zone (Fresno is in California Central Valley agricultural belt). ADU itself remains residential.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted; JADU framework specifically supports owner+relative arrangement.
Incentives
- CalHFA ADU Grant Program — $40,000 one-time (when funded) (Income-qualified Fresno homeowners)
- Fresno ADU Pre-Approved Plans Program — City of Fresno offers a catalog of pre-approved ADU plans with reduced plan-check fees and no Zone Clearance step required.
- SB 13 Impact Fee Waiver (under 750 sqft) — California state law prohibits impact, capacity, or connection fees on ADUs under 750 sqft.
Pre-approved plans Fresno ADU Pre-Approved Plans Program · 5 free designs · 35% plan-review fee waiver · saves ~4 weeks
Contacts
Staff: Building & Safety Division (Building Permits & Inspections), Building & Safety Division (alternate) (Plan Check Coordination)
Utilities
- Water: City of Fresno Department of Public Utilities Water Division (most parcels) or Bakman Water / Malaga Water District (smaller service areas) · 30d connect · $3,800
- Sewer: City of Fresno Wastewater Management (Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility on West Jensen) · 21d connect · $3,500
- Electric: Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) · 45d connect · $2,200
- Gas: Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) · 45d connect · $1,700
Property values & taxes
Market rent by ADU size
| Sq ft | Rent |
|---|---|
| 400 | $985/mo |
| 600 | $1,325/mo |
| 800 | $1,575/mo |
| 1,000 | $1,825/mo |
| 1,200 | $2,050/mo |
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 5mo · typical 9mo · worst 15mo
Central Valley contractor availability is better than coastal CA. Pre-approved-plan track combined with no-Zone-Clearance pathway makes Fresno among the faster CA cities for ADU.
Modular pathway California HCD Factory-Built Housing Program · inspectors are occasional with modular · 4 modular permits (last 24mo)
Highway 99 / I-5 corridors are easy. Old Fresno residential streets and Tower District lots may constrain module width.
Financing
State ADU loans:
- CalHFA ADU Grant Program (California Housing Finance Agency) up to $40,000
- HCD ADU Funding Resources Index (California Department of Housing and Community Development)
Insurance impact
Lower wildfire and seismic exposure than coastal CA means insurer market is more competitive and base rates are lower in Fresno than in Bay Area or LA Basin.
HOA prevalence & preemption
Fresno has substantial HOA prevalence in Woodward Park area, Fig Garden Loop subdivisions, and newer Clovis-adjacent developments. State law voids HOA covenants prohibiting ADUs on single-family lots.
Regulatory overlays (4)
- historic-district — Tower District Historic District; Old Fig Garden Historic District; Lowell Historic District; Saint John's Cathedral District · +21d · +5% cost
Historic Preservation Commission reviews ADUs in designated districts. (map) - flood-zone — FEMA SFHA along San Joaquin River, Kings River corridors, and limited urban flood zones · +14d · +5% cost
Most Fresno parcels are in Zone X (minimal flood risk); riverside and floodplain parcels require finished-floor elevation review. (map) - airport-noise-zone — Fresno Yosemite International Airport (KFAT) noise contours over northeast Fresno; Fresno Chandler Executive Airport over central/south · +7d · +3% cost
Sound-attenuation construction may be required in higher CNEL contours; FYI ALUC review. (map) - other — Bus Rapid Transit (Fresno BRT - Q line on Blackstone & Ventura) corridor parcels qualify for parking exemption + density bonus; San Joaquin Valley non-attainment air-quality permitting applies to large projects
BRT corridor parcels get standard ADU parking waiver under state law (1/2 mi rule). (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Fresno Local Building Code Amendments — Local amendments addressing Central Valley expansive-clay soils, high cooling-load HVAC sizing, and SJV air-quality construction-equipment limits.
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Fresno Municipal Code Chapter 15 (Citywide Development Code) - §15-2754 Accessory Dwelling Units; Tiny Houses, adopted 2015-12-17, last amended 2024-01-01
- 2015-12-17 — Fresno Citywide Development Code Adoption (Chapter 15) (city-ordinance)
City Council adopted the unified Citywide Development Code consolidating zoning, subdivision, and design standards into Chapter 15.
Effect: Replaced fragmented prior code with §15-2754 specifically for ADUs and Tiny Houses; established the framework that subsequent state-law conformance amendments built on. - 2020-01-09 — Fresno ADU Conformance Amendment (2020 state laws) (city-ordinance)
Code amendments to align Fresno §15-2754 with the 2020 California ADU statutes (AB 68, AB 881, SB 13, AB 670, AB 587).
Effect: Adopted 60-day ministerial review, removed owner-occupancy on most categories, added impact-fee exemption under 750 sqft. Chapter 15 §15-2754 set unit caps consistent with state floor. - 2023-10-19 — Fresno ADU Pre-Approved Plans Program Launch (city-ordinance)
City launched its ADU Pre-Approved Plans catalog with multiple footprints and Standard Plan Permit fee schedule.
Effect: Streamlined ADU permitting by eliminating Zone Clearance for both pre-approved and custom plans; applicants now go straight to building permit. Reduced typical timelines significantly. - 2024-01-01 — AB 976 (2023) - Permanent owner-occupancy prohibition (state-law)
Permanently bars California cities from imposing owner-occupancy requirements on ADU permits.
Effect: Removed Fresno's residual owner-occupancy condition for ADUs (JADUs retain state-law owner-occupancy). - 2025-03-27 — Fresno 2024 Housing Element Annual Progress Report Public Hearing (other)
City Planning Commission adopted the 2024 APR documenting ADU activity and the new ADU Program metrics.
Effect: Established 2024 baseline ADU permit count for Fresno (cited locally as ~30 ADUs/yr range); reviewed pre-approved-plan program uptake.
Fresno County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
California state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
California has the most aggressive statewide ADU preemption regime in the US, built from ~15 bills passed 2019-2025 and enforced by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The 2026 HCD ADU Handbook addendum (in effect with the 2025 Title 24 code cycle) is the operative state-level reference. The regime does four things at once: (1) preempts local zoning that would ban or unreasonably restrict ADUs; (2) imposes by-right ministerial approval with short statutory deadlines; (3) caps fees and utility-connection charges; and (4) empowers HCD to void non-compliant local ordinances.
State HOA preemption
California has the strongest statewide HOA-preemption regime in the US for accessory dwelling units, built from two bills: AB 670 (2019) voided ADU-prohibiting covenants on single-family residential lots, and AB 3182 (2020) extended and codified the preemption into the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (Civil Code §§ 4740 / 4741). The combination prohibits common-interest communities from banning ADUs, restricting rentals below 25% of separate interests, or treating ADUs as separate HOA interests. Limits remain: HOAs retain authority over reasonable design standards and statutory height limits, and the 2026 Carlsbad case (CalMatters coverage) established that an HOA's documented design-standards regime can effectively delay or constrain ADU approval short of outright prohibition.
State financing programs
California's flagship state-level ADU financing program — the CalHFA ADU Grant Program — is paused and has not been refunded since the original $100 million allocation was fully deployed 2023-12-28. The program provided up to $40,000 per qualifying homeowner for pre-construction and non-recurring closing costs and financed approximately 2,500 ADUs in two rounds. As of 2026-04, no new funding round has been announced in the state budget. CalHFA continues to publish anti-scam warnings because bad actors actively solicit homeowners claiming access to grant funds that no longer exist. State-level financing activity has shifted to local pilot programs (San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego) and private financing products (Fannie Mae ADU mortgage, HELOC, construction-to-permanent).
State housing programs
California's state-level ADU programs are concentrated at HCD (technical guidance, ordinance review, enforcement) and the paused CalHFA grant pipeline (covered under stateFinancing). The state does not operate a central pre-approved ADU plan library — instead, AB 1332 (2024) created a preemption framework for local pre-approved plans with a 30-day ministerial-approval deadline, and major cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, Berkeley) have rolled out their own plan catalogs. The California YIMBY coalition and other housing-policy organizations play an influential role in bill drafting; they are not state agencies but effectively drive much of the ADU legislative agenda. The Title 24 code cycle (now 2025, in effect for 2026 permits) is the authoritative building-code baseline.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Codes
- 93650
- 93701
- 93702
- 93703
- 93704
- 93705
- 93706
- 93710
- 93711
- 93720
- 93721
- 93722
- 93723
- 93725
- 93726
- 93727
- 93728
- 93730
- 93737
Post Office
- 1606 E Griffith Way, 93704
- 2382 S Cedar Ave, 93725
- 2601 E Olive Ave, 93701
- 34 W Minarets Ave, 93650
- 3727 N Hughes Ave, 93705
- 755 E Nees Ave, 93720