SB 9
What SB 9 is, and what this site will not pretend it is
Senate Bill 9 created a ministerial path for certain two-unit projects and urban lot splits on qualifying single-family parcels. It did not make every California house a candidate.
The two-unit provisions and the urban lot split provisions are different tools. One can add a second home on the existing parcel. The other asks a city or county to create a second parcel. Owner-occupancy expectations attach more tightly to the lot split. Mixing the slogans is how people budget the wrong project. A duplex conversation can be rational on a rental. A lot split on that same rental may not be. We say that before anyone draws a line on a screenshot.
Commonly cited statutory homes for these rules are Government Code sections 65852.21 and 66411.7. Read the current text. Amendments happen. This page is not a reprint of the code, and it is not a substitute for the city’s application checklist.
SB 9 is often described as ministerial: if a project is eligible and the application is complete, the agency applies objective standards rather than a discretionary hearing. That description is only useful if the “if” is true. Eligibility is the file. Completeness is the checklist. Objective standards still exist. A ministerial path is not a path with no rules.
Urbanized-area status, fire hazard severity, historic designation, farmland, and housing that is already deed-restricted or recently occupied by tenants are the kinds of facts that take parcels out of the conversation. We list them so you know what a reviewer is looking for. We do not mark your parcel as clear of them from an address string.
For eligible SB 9 projects, California law generally requires local agencies to approve or deny a complete application within 60 days. Final eligibility and approval remain subject to statutory requirements, complete application materials, and applicable local objective standards.
Urban lot split pathways can include owner-occupancy requirements. We assess your ownership and occupancy scenario before recommending a route.
If the property is held as a rental or investment asset, an SB 9 urban lot split may have additional restrictions. We can screen potential duplex, ADU, conventional subdivision, or alternative development pathways.
A preliminary screen on SB9Split can point at a pathway to study. It cannot certify that a parcel is in an urbanized area, outside a high fire hazard zone, free of a historic designation, or clear of a recent tenancy. Those are records. The Los Angeles-area city pages on this site explain the local questions we will not skip. They do not restate a minimum lot size, because we have not verified one as a fact about your parcel.