Oak Run

Shasta County is a far-northern California county (population ~181,000) at the head of the Sacramento Valley, with three incorporated cities (Redding, Anderson, Shasta Lake) and substantial rural unincorporated territory including Cottonwood, Palo Cedro, Bella Vista, Burney, Fall River Mills, McArthur, Round Mountain, Montgomery Creek, Lakehead, French Gulch, Igo, Ono, Whitmore, and Shingletown. The county seat is Redding. The county Board of Supervisors administers ADUs in unincorporated areas under California Government Code Sec. 65852.2 and 65852.22, but politically Shasta County is among the more strained jurisdictions in the state ADU regime - the county has historically been resistant to state housing-policy preemption (a politically conservative county that has clashed with Sacramento on multiple housing and CEQA matters since 2020). The recent ADU permitting environment has been dominated by two catastrophic fire events: the 2018 Carr Fire (~229,651 acres in Shasta and Trinity Counties; ~1,604 structures destroyed in Shasta County, primarily in west Redding and the Whiskeytown / Igo / Ono corridor) and the 2024 Park Fire (~429,603 acres across Tehama, Butte, Plumas, and Shasta Counties; the largest fire in California history at the time of publication; significant rebuild footprint extending into southern Shasta County). Both events drove emergency rebuild ordinances and disaster-relief permitting that intersect with ADU additions during reconstruction.

• Shasta County Code Title 17 (Zoning), ADU/JADU provisions
• Cal. Gov't Code Sec. 65852.2 (Accessory Dwelling Units)
• Cal. Gov't Code Sec. 65852.22 (Junior Accessory Dwelling Units)
• Shasta County Carr Fire Recovery program
• Shasta County Park Fire response (2024)

State-floor overlay: California state ADU preemption applies in full to unincorporated Shasta County. AB 1033 condo-conversion election: not adopted. AB 976 prohibits owner-occupancy mandates on detached ADUs. AB 2533 unpermitted-ADU amnesty applies. SB 9 urban lot-split provisions apply only within incorporated cities, not unincorporated parcels. HCD oversight applies to ordinance amendments per Sec. 65852.2(h); the county has had multiple ordinance review cycles with HCD as it brought the local code into conformance, and political resistance to state preemption is a documented feature of the local environment.

Shasta County overlays of consequence: CAL FIRE State Responsibility Area Very High FHSZ across most of the rural county (the Cascade Range foothills, the Trinity Alps periphery, the Mt. Lassen vicinity, and the Pit River canyon); 2018 Carr Fire burn footprint (~229,651 acres total; ~1,604 structures destroyed in Shasta County, primarily west Redding and the Whiskeytown / Igo / Ono corridor); 2024 Park Fire burn footprint (~429,603 acres total across multiple counties; southern Shasta County extension); Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (~42,500 acres NPS, severely burned in Carr Fire and progressively reopening); Lassen Volcanic National Park (NPS); Lassen National Forest, Shasta-Trinity National Forest (the second-largest national forest in California); Bureau of Reclamation Shasta Dam / Lake Shasta / Lake Shasta National Recreation Area; the Trinity Alps Wilderness periphery; FEMA SFHA along the Sacramento River, Cottonwood Creek, Battle Creek, Pit River, McCloud River, Clear Creek; volcanic and geothermal hazard advisory zones near the Mt. Shasta vicinity (volcano in adjacent Siskiyou County but advisory zones extend); the Pit River Tribe (Ajumawi-Atsugewi Nation) and Redding Rancheria (Wintu / Yana / Pit River) tribal-trust lands and AB 52 / SB 18 consultation overlays; rural well-water / septic on most parcels.

• CAL FIRE State Responsibility Area / Cascade and Trinity foothills Very High FHSZ
• 2018 Carr Fire rebuild zone
• 2024 Park Fire rebuild zone (southern Shasta County extension)
• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area / Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Shasta Dam / Lake Shasta - Bureau of Reclamation
• Shasta-Trinity National Forest / Lassen National Forest
• FEMA SFHA - Sacramento River, Cottonwood Creek, Battle Creek, Pit River, McCloud River, Clear Creek
• Cascade volcanic-hazard advisory zone (Mt. Shasta / Lassen Peak vicinity)
• Redding Rancheria / Pit River Tribe (Ajumawi-Atsugewi Nation) - tribal-trust lands and consultation

Shasta County Department of Resource Management / Planning Division issues ADU permits for unincorporated parcels including Cottonwood, Palo Cedro, Bella Vista, Burney, Fall River Mills, McArthur, Round Mountain, Lakehead, French Gulch, Igo, Ono, Whitmore, and Shingletown. Practical permitting frictions: extensive CAL FIRE State Responsibility Area covering most of the county outside the Sacramento Valley floor and the immediate Redding metro - the 2018 Carr Fire (the most destructive structure event in county history; ~1,604 structures destroyed in Shasta County) and the 2024 Park Fire (the largest California fire on record at the time of publication; southern Shasta County footprint) reshaped WUI evacuation and Chapter 7A enforcement; FEMA SFHA along the Sacramento River, Cottonwood Creek, Battle Creek, Pit River, McCloud River, and Clear Creek; the Shasta Lake / Lake Shasta reservoir shoreline (federal Bureau of Reclamation jurisdiction with USFS and CA State Parks lease frameworks); the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area on the western edge of Redding (NPS, ~42,500 acres severely burned in Carr Fire); Lassen Volcanic National Park territory east; volcanic / geothermal hazard zones around Mt. Shasta vicinity (the Mt. Shasta volcano itself is in Siskiyou County but volcanic-hazard advisory zones extend); and rural well-water / septic considerations across most non-municipal parcels.