Land use: accessory dwelling units.

Local governments must now approve or deny a coastal development permit application for an accessory dwelling unit within 60 days of receiving a completed application, and are not required to hold public hearings for such applications. The process must happen concurrently with the ADU application process under Section 66317.

If the local government does not have a certified local coastal plan, the California Coastal Commission must approve or deny the CDP application within 60 days. The Commission may delay if the ADU permit is submitted with a new dwelling permit, but otherwise the application is deemed approved if not decided within 60 days.

Any decision of a local government under the coastal development permit exemption provision (subdivision (a)) is not subject to appeal under Section 30603 of the Public Resources Code, effectively removing a layer of judicial or administrative review.

The state-mandated local program designation was changed from 'no' to 'yes,' acknowledging that the new duties imposed on local agencies constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill still states no reimbursement is required because local agencies can levy fees or charges.

The legislative digest title was changed from 'Land use: coastal development permits: accessory dwelling units' to 'Land use: accessory dwelling units,' reflecting a broader framing of the bill beyond just the CDP exemption.

The bill was signed by the Governor on October 10, 2025 and filed with the Secretary of State the same day. The document was renumbered as Chapter 491 and reformatted from the enrolled bill layout to the official chaptered publication layout.

Removed amendment history headers (listing prior Senate and Assembly amendment dates) and replaced them with standard enrolled bill formatting including passage dates (Assembly September 12, 2025; Senate September 11, 2025), clerk signature lines, and a Governor approval line.

The legislative counsel's digest was slightly reworded: 'AB 462, as amended, Lowenthal' became 'AB 462, Lowenthal', removing the 'as amended' qualifier now that the bill is in its final form.

Removed the exemption from needing a coastal development permit for ADUs located in Los Angeles County or any county under a state of emergency proclamation on or after February 1, 2025. This exemption had required setbacks of at least 10 feet from canyon bluffs or 25 feet from coastal bluffs and no encroachment on public access easements.

Removed the legislative finding that a special statute was necessary because of the devastating effect of wildfires in Los Angeles County, which had justified the county-specific provisions.

The urgency statute justification was changed from referencing 'the County of Los Angeles and the state' to simply 'the state,' removing the specific tie to LA County.

Added a requirement that a local government without a certified local coastal plan or program must immediately notify the California Coastal Commission when an ADU permit application is complete under Section 66317.

Section 66329 was restructured: the 60-day approval or denial deadline (previously in subdivision (c)) moved to subdivision (a), and the California Coastal Commission's role for areas without certified coastal plans moved to subdivision (b) with new paragraph numbering.

Section 66329(b)(3) now requires that the California Coastal Commission has received a completed application for a coastal development permit pursuant to Section 65943 before its concurrent review process (and the associated 60-day deemed approval deadline) applies. Previously, the concurrent review was stated without this precondition.

The legislative counsel's digest adds a sentence clarifying that existing law already deems an ADU application approved if the local agency has not acted within 60 days, improving context for readers of the digest.

New amendment to Government Code Section 66328 requires local agencies to issue a certificate of occupancy for a detached ADU in a state of emergency county even if the primary dwelling has not yet received its CO, provided the primary dwelling was substantially damaged or destroyed by the disaster event and the ADU has passed all required inspections. This does not apply to attached ADUs.

New subdivision (b) added to Section 66329 imposes two conditions on the coastal development permit exemption: the ADU must be set back at least 10 feet from a canyon bluff or 25 feet from a coastal bluff, and it must not encroach on public access easements or deed restrictions (with a narrow exception for the seaward side of a primary dwelling on the beach).

The coastal development permit exemption now explicitly continues to apply even after the state of emergency proclamation has expired, removing any ambiguity about its duration.

The bill's state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' acknowledging that the new certificate of occupancy duty imposed on local agencies constitutes a state-mandated local program.

New Section 5 states that no reimbursement is required under Article XIII B of the California Constitution because local agencies have authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to cover the mandated program costs.

The exemption for ADUs in counties under a state of emergency is now conditional: housing must have been damaged, destroyed, or otherwise made uninhabitable by the event that resulted in the proclamation. Previously, any county with a qualifying proclamation automatically qualified.

Assembly Member Wicks was added as a coauthor.

The word 'Nothing' was removed from the beginning of Section 66329, and the section now begins directly with subdivision (a). Page numbering was corrected from 99 to 98.