Detached accessory dwelling unit ordinance

Every hearing and vote

1. July 14, 2026 · City Council

   Detached accessory dwelling units ordinance

   Discussed

   McGinn said a new state law requires Orem to allow detached ADUs on lots of at least 11,000 square feet by Oct. 1. Staff recommends sticking to that minimum. The draft bars ADUs in front yards, limits them to the size of the main home, requires matching appearance and bans rentals under 90 consecutive days. State law bars conditional use permits and limits parking requirements to two spaces for units 650 square feet or larger. Planning Commission review runs to early August, then council sessions in August and September. Council Member Quinn Mecham asked for lessons from other Utah cities.

2. July 28, 2026 · City Council

   Detached accessory dwelling unit ordinance draft

   Discussed

   Staff presented the draft to meet the state's Oct. 1, 2026 deadline: detached ADUs on single-family lots of 11,000 square feet or more (about 5,800 lots), with size caps of 850, 1,000 or 1,200 square feet by lot size and no more than 50 percent of the main home's footprint; heights of 20 feet (pitched) or 14 feet (flat); side or rear yard only; setbacks of 10 feet from interior lines, 25 feet from streets and 10 feet from the main house; owner occupancy; one ADU per lot; and no RVs or trailers as ADUs. Orem has about 859 licensed internal ADUs. Short-term rental rules are handled separately. Council members asked for a height-to-distance model, a setback keyed to a neighbor's zone line, a ban on fill to adjust sewer grade, and data from cities such as Provo. At least one more work session is planned, with a final vote at the second council meeting in September. McGinn also reported that doubling the notice radius to 2,000 feet costs under $1,000 per project.

3. August 11, 2026 · City Council

   Detached ADU setbacks and sizes

   Discussed

   Planning Director Jared Hall showed lot mockups and proposed a 6-foot separation from the main house, 10-foot interior side setbacks, a 25-foot rear setback and a 30-foot buffer from a neighbor's buildable area; heights of 12 to 16 feet (flat) and 14 to 18 feet (pitched); and sizes of 650 to 850 square feet. He cited counts from other Utah jurisdictions, such as 73 units in South Salt Lake and 27 in Bountiful. Community Development Director Gary McGinn advised against setbacks under 10 feet and promised to revisit the ordinance after 6 to 9 months; City Manager Brenn Bybee proposed sampling about 5,000 eligible lots to see how many would be excluded. Council Member LaNae Millett wanted rear setbacks of 20 to 25 feet measured from the property line, not a neighbor's house. Council Member Jenn Gale called 25 feet plus a 30-foot buffer an outlier and questioned the flat-roof height cap. Mayor Karen McCandless worried the city could be seen as making ADUs unreasonably difficult to place. Council Member Quinn Mecham favored a 15 to 20-foot rear setback and an 800-square-foot cap. Council Member Crystal Muhlestein favored about 20 feet and starting strict. Council Members Jeff Lambson and Chris Killpack favored a 20-foot rear setback and a 10-foot side setback. The council has two September meetings to adopt it before the Oct. 1 state deadline.

4. September 8, 2026 · City Council

   Detached ADU ordinance: size, setback and height consensus

   Discussed

   Planning Director Jared Hall said about 5,800 of roughly 20,300 residential parcels meet the 11,000-square-foot state threshold, and a 400-lot sample found 47 percent could host a detached ADU under the proposed setbacks (43.5 percent excluding vacant lots). The council agreed on one ADU per lot, owner occupancy backed by a recorded affidavit, and a rule that breezeways cannot turn a detached unit into an addition. Side setbacks of 10 feet and a 20-foot distance from a neighbor's house were set. Council Members LaNae Millett and Crystal Muhlestein favored keeping the underlying zone's rear setback (typically 25 feet in R8) instead of a flat 20 feet. Size caps are 650 square feet on 11,000-13,000 square foot lots, 850 up to 16,000 and 1,200 up to 20,000, with no more than 50 percent of the main home's above-grade footprint. Heights start at 14 feet pitched or 12 feet flat and rise one foot for each foot of added setback, to 18 and 14 feet, never above the main house; units are single-story with lofts limited to 20 percent. A public hearing was targeted for Sept. 22.

5. September 22, 2026 · City Council

   Public hearing: ordinance establishing regulations for detached accessory dwelling units (Article 22-6)

   Pending

   Planning Director Jared Hall is to present an ordinance amending Article 22-6 of the city code to permit detached accessory dwelling units on single-family properties, which state law requires by Oct. 1, 2026.