Accessory dwelling unit ordinance
Replaces accessory apartments with accessory dwelling units, adding detached ADU standards, a 30-day minimum rental and tiny home standards. Approved 5-0 on Dec. 7, 2021.
Tabled
- Type
- Code change
- City Council: Alternative animal management plans and zoning updates
- City Council: Accessory dwelling unit standards, EMMC 17.70.030
- City Council: Code amendments: accessory dwelling units, commercial land uses, caretaker dwellings and self…
- City Council: Land use code changes responding to a 2023 state law (work session)
- City Council: Accessory dwelling unit standards, EMMC 17.70.030
In brief
Accessory dwelling unit ordinance appears on 9 recorded agendas, from the City Council meeting of October 19, 2021 to the City Council meeting of October 21, 2025.
On record, it was tabled once, approved once, approved with conditions once, and continued once.
The most recent decision was continued (5-0) at the City Council meeting of October 21, 2025.
Follow the money and project delivery
Accessory dwelling unit ordinance
- Council action
Approved with conditions: Accessory dwelling unit standards, EMMC 17.70.030 · Approved minutes Record → · Jan. 16, 2024
- Money in the record
No itemized amount linked in the records collected.
- Signed agreement and payments
Execution and project-level disbursements are not verified by this tracker. They require separate records; meeting approval alone does not establish either.
- Work and operating costs
Check the linked records for completion and recurring operating costs; this tracker does not verify them. Record →
Every hearing and vote
October 21, 2025 · City Council
Alternative animal management plans and zoning updates
Continued · 5-0
Planner Steven Lehmitz presented amendments to EMMC 6.05.260 and 6.10.080, a new Chapter 6.15, changes to accessory dwelling unit sections, removal of public hearings for variances and appeals per state law, and updates to land use tables. No one spoke. After the council made additional changes, City Attorney Marcus Draper said the Planning Commission must review them with the full amendment, and the council remanded it.
January 16, 2024 · City Council
Accessory dwelling unit standards, EMMC 17.70.030
Approved with conditions · 5-0
Planning Director Brandon Larsen presented changes under a 2023 state law that remove language limiting accessory dwelling units to basements or additions and allow them in garages. Wood asked for parking for four vehicles per home for snow removal and safety. The council revised the location language and required off-street parking for two vehicles. No one spoke at the hearing.
August 15, 2023 · City Council
Code amendments: accessory dwelling units, commercial land uses, caretaker dwellings and self-storage
Pending
Planner Steven Lehmitz was to present a change to the accessory dwelling unit standards to say the city does not require an internal connection between a primary unit and an attached unit, and rules for automobile sales, racetracks and generators with communication facilities in the commercial zone table, discussed Aug. 1. Senior Planner David Stroud was to present code changes on caretaker dwellings and self-storage or mini-storage uses. The result is not available.
August 1, 2023 · City Council
Land use code changes responding to a 2023 state law (work session)
Discussed
Staff presented changes making the Planning Commission the land use authority for preliminary plats, simplifying lot line adjustments and right-of-way vacations, setting service drive widths (12 feet one-way, 20 feet two-way) and ADA stall sizes, adding conditional-use rules for kennels and racetracks, removing the state-barred internal connection requirement for attached accessory dwelling units, and allowing caretaker dwellings up to 1,200 square feet in industrial and commercial storage zones. Curtis asked to separate state-required from staff-suggested changes and to allow public input on preliminary plats; Wright asked to add two council members to the Development Review Committee. No votes are recorded.
May 16, 2023 · City Council
Accessory dwelling unit standards, EMMC 17.70.030
Pending
Senior Planner David Stroud was to present a resident-proposed change removing the cap of 50 percent of the primary home's square footage for detached accessory dwelling units, keeping the permitted size of 400 to 1,200 square feet. The result is not available.
February 21, 2023 · City Council
Residential zones, accessory dwelling unit size, EMMC Chapter 17.25
Pending
Senior Planner David Stroud was to present a change to how maximum accessory dwelling unit size is calculated: from the primary dwelling footprint plus garage area, or no maximum in some zones, to a percentage of lot coverage of either 10 or 15 percent depending on the zone. The result is not available.
December 7, 2021 · City Council
Accessory dwelling units (Chapter 17.70)
Approved · 5-0
Mumford aligned detached ADU setbacks with the primary dwelling; Council Member Colby Curtis favored stricter starting standards. No one spoke at the hearing.
November 16, 2021 · City Council
Accessory dwelling unit ordinance (work session)
Discussed
Mumford reviewed changes since Oct. 19: 70-foot minimum frontage and 35-foot maximum height for detached units, 400-square-foot minimum and 1,200-square-foot maximum, a 10-foot rear setback, and internal ADUs in all single-family zones. Gray wanted more than two bedrooms in external units. No vote.
October 19, 2021 · City Council
Accessory dwelling units ordinance (replacing accessory apartments)
Tabled · 4-1
Steve Mumford presented renaming accessory apartments to ADUs, detached ADU standards, a 30-day minimum rental, tiny home standards and an extra parking space. The Planning Commission recommended approval 4-1. Curtis objected to the RC zone reasoning and asked to prohibit shipping container ADUs; Love proposed an initialed acknowledgment rather than a notarized landlord letter. A resident asked that an ADU above a garage match the garage footprint, which would exceed the proposed 1,000-square-foot cap. Mumford said state law bars limits on internal ADUs based on lot size, frontage or relation to the primary dwelling. The council tabled it to the next meeting.