Menlo Park moves to update ADU rules for backyard homes
Menlo Park’s June 9 ADU overhaul could clear parking rules, add objective standards and widen paths for backyard cottages and garage apartments.
Menlo Park’s next ADU move was not about whether backyard homes belong in the city. It was about how much clearer, faster and less restrictive the rules would become for homeowners trying to add one. The City Council’s June 9 agenda included a second reading of an ordinance that would repeal and replace Chapter 16.79, the section of the zoning code that governs accessory dwelling units.
City staff said the update was meant to bring Menlo Park’s local rules into line with state ADU law while also adding local objective standards. That push came after the California Department of Housing and Community Development sent a technical assistance letter on December 5, 2025, saying the city’s 2020 ordinance may no longer match current state law. By the time the council introduced the ordinance at its May 19 meeting, the city had already moved through a December 15, 2025 Planning Commission study session and an April 13 commission hearing, where commissioners recommended adoption of a new ADU ordinance.
The changes matter because they affect the buildable math on real lots. Menlo Park says a property with a single-family residence may build up to two ADUs, one detached and one that is attached, interior or junior. The city also says an ADU that is 800 square feet or smaller may exceed floor-area and building-coverage limits by up to 800 square feet if it is built after or at the same time as the primary dwelling. The proposed ordinance would add one more incentive: a one-time extra 100 square feet above that 800-square-foot threshold if the ADU meets California Building Code accessibility provisions.
The city has also been working through the kinds of local standards that can decide whether a project feels streamlined or snarled. The Planning Commission has discussed use-permit triggers, daylight-plane requirements, restrictions on internal access between an ADU and a primary dwelling, and whether multiple ADUs should be allowed on single-family properties. Menlo Park created an ADU preapproval process effective January 1, 2025, and as of January 1, 2026, new applications have been subject to a two-step process.
For Menlo Park homeowners, that means the central question was not whether an ADU is allowed. It was whether the city’s updated code would make a backyard cottage, garage apartment or other small home read like a straightforward housing project instead of a special exception.
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