The San Marcos ADU Guide

Our ADU experience in San Marcos

We’ve been honored to be selected to design the City of San Marcos pre-approved ADU plans, which will be released in late 2023. SnapADU has permitted or is in the process of permitting numerous projects within the city, and we know the city’s regulations and processes very well.

One unusual requirement in San Marcos is that ADUs generally cannot be in the front yard (though SB-897 passed Aug 2022 will limit city’s ability to enforce this). They also require a soils report for ADUs >500 sqft. San Marcos allows for digital submissions. Turnaround times at the city are moderate.

Additionally, we have seen San Marcos projects require interaction with the Community Facilities Districts (CFD), which are commonly referred to as Mello-Roos Districts, to finance local public facilities and services. This can add months to the processing time.

San Marcos ADU Regulations & Permitting Requirements

Want to learn more about what kind of ADU you can build in San Marcos? Check out our in-depth resource guide San Marcos Regulations & Permitting Requirements outlining the ADU building code requirements. We also include what we have learned about how the city will interpret code based on actually designing & building in the city. You can also set up a consult if you want our advice on what you can build.