The 60-Day ADU Clock: Why 'Acted Upon' Isn't 'Approved or Denied'

You're a homeowner or a designer with an ADU permit sitting in a city queue. The counter says the application will be "reviewed." The ordinance says it will be "acted upon within 60 days." That sounds like a deadline. It isn't the one state law actually gives you.

Here's the thing: an ADU or JADU application isn't supposed to be "acted upon" — state law says the agency has to approve or deny it, a yes or a no, within 60 days, ministerially, with no hearing. HCD keeps having to point out the difference, one city at a time.

What Riverside County's ordinance said — and what HCD found

In its May 14, 2025 review of Riverside County's ADU Ordinance No. 348, HCD went straight at the County's processing language. Section 19.804 C. read that "Applications for an ADU or Junior ADU shall be acted upon within sixty (60) days of the application being submitted to the County."

HCD's position: that's not the standard. Government Code § 66317 requires a local agency to approve or deny an ADU or JADU application within 60 days of a completed application. HCD found the County's version "broader than State ADU Law allows … and thus more restrictive," and directed it to "amend the Ordinance to read 'approve or deny' instead of 'acted upon'."

The word choice carries weight. "Acted upon" can cover a continuance, a request for more study, a referral to a hearing — anything short of a decision. "Approve or deny" forces the decision. Coronado's letter quotes the same statute for the related point that the application "shall be considered without discretionary review or hearing."

Verified against HCD's ADU Ordinance Findings letter to the County of Riverside (May 14, 2025), Finding 11, citing Gov. Code § 66317.

This is a pattern, not a one-off

Riverside isn't unusual. HCD has flagged the same soft verb in city after city:

• Coronado (Dec. 10, 2025) — HCD found the ordinance's use of "acted upon," "acts on" and "processed" "do not match the statutory language 'approving or denying'," citing § 66317.
• San Bernardino (Apr. 22, 2026) — HCD found the ordinance "uses the phrases 'acting on' and 'acts on' where statute uses the more specific phrases 'approving or denying' and 'approves or denies,' to indicate that every complete ADU application must resolve in either an approval or a denial."
• Ukiah (Apr. 24, 2025) — the ordinance said an ADU permit is "deemed approved if the local agency has not acted on the completed application within 60 days"; HCD said the statute requires "approve or deny." On the JADU side it was blunter: "The term 'act upon' is old language and was amended to read 'approve or deny.' Acting on an application does not reflect State ADU Law."
• Inglewood (May 12, 2025) — the ordinance said the director "shall act on" an ADU or JADU application within 60 days; HCD directed the City to change "shall act" to "shall approve or deny."

Five jurisdictions, one habit, one correction. When HCD has to fix the same phrasing this many times, "acted upon" stops reading like harmless boilerplate and starts reading like an enforcement target.

Why it matters at the counter

For the person trying to build, the difference is leverage. An ordinance that only promises to "act" on your file leaves room for it to drift — reviewed, continued, sent to a hearing — without ever producing the answer the statute guarantees. HCD's reading closes the gap: as Ukiah's letter puts it, the agency must "issue an approval, or a denial with a full set of comments on how to remedy the application within 60 days."

One caution worth keeping in view: an HCD findings letter is HCD's interpretation of State ADU Law and its enforcement position — not a court ruling, and courts have the final say. If your local ordinance still says "acted upon," or your application is stalling short of an actual decision, it's worth raising. But confirm the specifics with your jurisdiction and your own counsel before you rely on it. This isn't legal advice.

What CrossBeam does with it

When the letter lands on your desk, CrossBeam turns it around the same day: what each item is actually asking, the code or law behind it, and a written response you can hand to your team or your attorney — the back-and-forth that used to eat weeks, done in a couple of hours.