Burbank Is Rewriting Its ADU Rules. Here Is the Letter That Started It.
Burbank is rewriting its accessory dwelling unit rules. Most of the coverage has been about the state bills signed in September. That is not what is driving this.
What is driving it is a letter the state sent Burbank on December 5, 2025, and almost nobody locally has written about it.
What the letter says
The California Department of Housing and Community Development wrote to Patrick Prescott, Burbank's Director of Community Development. The subject was Burbank's ADU ordinance.
HCD's position, in short: the most recent Burbank ADU ordinance on file with the department is from 2020, and it "may be outdated and out of compliance with State ADU Law."
Then the part that matters. HCD states that an ordinance which does not comply is "null and void and the local jurisdiction must apply the standards set forth in State ADU Law." That language is from Government Code section 66316.
HCD recommended repeal, and asked the city to respond by January 4, 2026, with either an explanation of why it is still compliant or a plan and timeline to fix it.
What HCD specifically flagged
The letter is not vague. It names provisions:
Deed restrictions cannot be imposed as an additional standard
Junior ADUs are capped at 500 square feet of interior livable space
No impact fees on ADUs up to 750 square feet or JADUs up to 500 square feet
The city must determine whether an application is complete within 15 business days, and an application is deemed approved if not acted on within 60 days
Owner-occupancy rules differ for JADUs with shared sanitation versus without
Demolished uncovered parking does not have to be replaced
A JADU cannot trigger a fire sprinkler requirement
Where the city is now
Burbank has a zone text amendment in progress. It is Project 25-0001638 on the city's Pending Projects page, and its stated purpose is to bring the ADU and JADU standards into line with State ADU Law.
Here is the honest status as of today. The city held a virtual webinar on October 6. The Planning Commission date is listed as TBD. The City Council introduction date is listed as TBD. No draft ordinance has been posted. The only documents up are the July 28 study session materials and the webinar notice.
I also checked the Council agenda forecast, which currently runs through November 17. There is no ADU item on it. Since the Planning Commission has to go first, nothing is happening before mid-November at the earliest, and realistically later.
So can Burbank still turn down my ADU?
This is the question I keep getting, and I am going to answer it carefully, because the careless version of this answer could cost somebody real money.
I am not going to tell you that Burbank's local ADU limits are unenforceable. HCD said an ordinance that does not comply is void. HCD did not rule on each specific Burbank provision, the city has not conceded anything publicly, and I am a REALTOR, not your land use attorney.
What I will tell you is narrower and more useful. There is now a written, public disagreement between the state and the city about whether Burbank's ADU standards hold up. That is a real thing to know before you spend money on plans.
The practical version: if a city position is quoted at you as settled, ask which ordinance it comes from and what its date is. If the answer is the 2020 ordinance, that is the one HCD put in writing may be void. That is a fair question to ask, politely, and then take to someone qualified.
What is on the city's own pages right now
Burbank's published ADU material still presents the older framework: the prohibition on new ADU construction in the Rancho, an 800 square foot cap in the Very High Fire Severity Zone, and size limits of 850 square feet for a studio or one bedroom and 1,000 for a two bedroom.
I am not saying those are wrong. I am saying they come from the ordinance HCD has questioned, the fee reference on that page is the FY 24-25 schedule, and the city's ADU handout in circulation is dated July 2024. Treat all of it as "ask, do not assume."
What I would do if I owned here
If you are thinking about an ADU in the next year, the sequence I would follow is this.
Ask the city directly and get it in writing. Email rather than a counter conversation, so you have the answer and the date.
Find out which ordinance governs your answer. That one question tells you whether you are standing on solid ground.
Watch for the draft. When the zone text amendment is published, the gap between the current rules and the new ones becomes visible, and that gap is where decisions get made.
If the numbers are large, pay a land use attorney for an hour. That is cheaper than a redesign.
If you want help tracking when the draft lands, I am watching this one and I am happy to tell you when it moves. This post is also worth reading alongside the two new state ADU laws, which are a separate change layered on top of this one.
Michelle Crochet is a REALTOR with eXp Realty of Greater Los Angeles serving Burbank, Glendale and Toluca Lake. This post describes publicly available documents as of October 20, 2026. It is not legal advice.
