Two New ADU Laws Just Changed What You Can Build in Burbank

California signed three housing bills into law on September 29, 2026. Two of them are about accessory dwelling units, and both change the math on a Burbank single family lot.

Here is what actually changed, what it means if you own here, and the parts nobody can answer yet.

What does AB 956 do?

AB 956 raises the number of detached, newly built ADUs that a city must approve ministerially on a single family lot from one to two, as long as they meet a four foot setback.

"Ministerially" is the word that matters. It means the city reviews the application against objective standards and approves it. There is no discretionary hearing, no design review board deciding whether it likes your project, no neighbor appeal on taste.

The bill also voids covenants that restrict ADU construction on lots zoned for single family use. If your HOA or your deed has language prohibiting an ADU, that language is no longer enforceable against a state compliant unit.

That second piece is the one I would reread if you have ever been told no by an association.

What does SB 1117 do?

SB 1117 limits impact fees on an ADU to the area in excess of 750 square feet of interior livable space.

Impact fees are the charges a city levies to cover the cost of serving new development, and on a small unit they can be a meaningful share of the budget. Under this bill, a 700 square foot ADU is not charged impact fees on its square footage at all. A 1,100 square foot unit is charged on 350 feet rather than 1,100.

For anyone pricing out a garage conversion or a small backyard unit, that is real money.

What about the third bill?

SB 1116 covers planning and zoning for housing subdivisions. It is less directly relevant to a single homeowner, but it is part of the same package.

When do these take effect?

I am not going to give you a date, because one has not been published.

California's default for bills without an urgency clause is January 1 of the following year, but the Governor's announcement does not say so and I have not been able to confirm it for these specific bills. Chapter numbers have not posted yet either.

One thing worth knowing if you go looking: the bill tracking sites are running days behind the Governor's office. The day after these were announced as signed, the trackers still listed them as pending. If you want to check status yourself, go to the Governor's own press releases rather than a tracker.

How does this interact with Burbank's own ADU rules?

This is the part that is genuinely unsettled, and I would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

On July 28, 2026, the Burbank City Council voted 5 to 0 directing staff to draft a new ADU ordinance. That direction accepted the state's position that up to five residential units are allowed on a single family lot, a primary home plus up to four ADUs, because state guidance issued in March 2026 requires locally permitted ADUs to be allowed in addition to the units the state already mandates, not substituted for them.

The Council also asked staff to preserve Burbank's local protections for horsekeeping zones and high fire hazard areas, which matters directly if you are in the Rancho or on the hillside.

And they asked staff to study ADU condominium conveyance, which would let an ADU be sold separately rather than only rented. That is at the study stage with no draft and no timeline.

Here is the status as of today. The draft ordinance has to go to state housing officials for review before it reaches the Planning Commission. There is no public draft yet. The city held a public webinar on the ADU zone text amendment on October 6, 2026, and both the Planning Commission hearing and the City Council introduction are still listed as to be determined. No ADU item appears on the City Council agenda forecast through November 17.

I am not predicting a timeline, because the city has not published one. I am telling you that nothing is calendared yet, and that if you are planning around a specific local rule, it may change.

So what should a Burbank homeowner actually do?

Three things, in order.

Separate what is settled from what is not. The state laws are signed. Burbank's own ordinance is not written. If a contractor or a neighbor tells you confidently what you can build on your lot in Burbank today, ask them which of those two they are describing.

Do not confuse eligibility with feasibility. A lot can be legally eligible for multiple units and physically able to hold far fewer. Setbacks, parking, utility capacity, and fire access all still apply, and on the hillside they apply hard. That question goes to an architect, not to a REALTOR and not to a news article.

If you are selling, know that this is now a buyer question. Buyers are reading the same headlines. "Can I put a unit in the back?" is going to come up, and the honest answer right now is "the state says more than it used to, the city has not finished writing its version, and here is who to ask."

Where to verify this

The Governor's office publishes its signing announcements at gov.ca.gov. Burbank's ADU page and the City Council agenda forecast are both on burbankca.gov. For anything about a specific property, the Community Development department is the real answer.

If you own in Burbank and are trying to work out what this means for your lot, get in touch. I am happy to walk through what is known and what is not, and to point you at the right person for the rest.

Michelle Crochet is a REALTOR with eXp Realty serving Burbank, Glendale and Toluca Lake.