Tiny homes, granny flats, or whatever name you prefer, the City of Reno is close to approving accessory dwelling ADU units in most areas of the city.
The discussion about allowing ADU units in Reno has been ongoing for years, but in 2024, City staff conducted extensive public outreach on the topic, which included a survey and several public meetings.
From that, City staff created a draft ordinance based on feedback and are now seeking additional input to refine the proposed language.
The City of Reno will host several public engagement opportunities for residents to provide feedback on the proposed adoption of an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance. In 2023, the Reno City Council began a text amendment to the Reno Municipal Code to permit ADUs in most areas of the city.
"It's the idea that never goes away, but with the increasing costs of construction and housing, we think that now is the appropriate time to bring it forward. We did bring up a draft in 2018, and it did fail, so we've hopefully learned from our mistakes and looked at the draft and tried to figure out why it didn't pass," said Grace Mackedon, city of Reno senior management analyst of development services
In the coming weeks, City staff will participate in Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) meetings and host several virtual stakeholder meetings. This will enable the public to learn more about the draft ordinance, provide feedback, and ask questions of the staff.
After gathering community input, a revised draft ordinance will be presented to the Planning Commission and Reno City Council for consideration later this spring.
"We're growing regardless of whether people like it or not. So, ADUs are an incremental way for people to see progress, as opposed to seeing a whole block get torn down in 10-15 years and a whole apartment building go up," said Jackson.
To learn more about the ADUs, visit this link.
