Permit Sonoma’s New ADU Rescue Program for Unpermitted ADUs

Author: By Renée J. Schomp, Director, Napa Sonoma ADU Center

Permit Sonoma recently launched a new ADU Rescue Program that allows qualifying ADU owners to ask for an enforcement postponement of up to five (5) years after passing a habitability inspection from a licensed professional.

This will be exciting news for many homeowners with property in unincorporated Sonoma County (this program does not apply in any other jurisdictions) who have unpermitted ADUs.

Unpermitted ADUs are a tough issue for local government to tackle, because on the one hand they know that there are tons of unpermitted ADUs that are built to code and provide much-needed, safe housing for members of our community.

On the other hand, there are also unpermitted ADUs that are not built to building code or are uninhabitable from a health and safety perspective. So while there is a desire to not unhouse folks living in those units, at the same time, local government wants to ensure that they are doing their due diligence to make certain that folks are not living in unsafe housing.

(Side note – a recent survey in the City of Oakland found that a whopping 96% of ADUs were unpermitted! Many jurisdictions, ours included, have a high volume of unpermitted units providing housing to members of our community.)

This conundrum may be resolved, at least in part, by the State of California’s new law which is designed to help local governments ameliorate the issue by allowing homeowners to request a “stay of enforcement” on unpermitted ADUs for up to 5 years as long as they determine that there is no health or safety risk.

Read more about the program and how to qualify for it on Permit Sonoma’s website here.