Can I build an ADU in Studio City (91604)?

Can I build an ADU on my Studio City lot?

Almost certainly some kind of ADU, yes. City Planning's guidance says ADUs are permitted through a ministerial process in all areas zoned for single-family or multifamily homes where there is a proposed or existing house on the lot ⁷.

State law guarantees three options the city has to approve on a single-family lot, and these are the ones that matter most in the Studio City hills:

• A detached backyard house of up to 800 square feet, with four-foot side and rear setbacks, which can be paired with a JADU ⁸.
• A garage conversion or conversion of another existing accessory building, which can grow by up to 150 square feet only to fit an entry or exit ⁹.
• A junior ADU (JADU) of no more than 500 square feet, inside the house ¹⁰.

The city's own ADU ordinance adds a larger detached option of up to 1,200 square feet and two stories, called an Ordinance ADU ¹¹. On a flat lot north of the hills that bigger unit is usually on the table. On about half of Studio City's lots it is not, for the reason in the next section. If you are deciding between a JADU and a full unit, our JADU vs ADU guide covers the difference.

How much of Studio City is in the fire zone and the Hillside Area?

More than half. We tested every City of Los Angeles single-family parcel in 91604 against the city's map layers: 3,464 of 5,837 (59%) are in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and 2,932 (50%) are in a Hillside Area ³⁴.

In Studio City the two zones line up almost exactly. Every one of the 2,932 hillside parcels in our count is also in the fire zone, so there are no hillside-only lots here ⁴. That matters because the city code bars ADUs on lots in both zones except in a few listed cases, and City Planning says that bar may not be enforced on state-law ADUs ¹². So on half of Studio City's single-family lots, the 800-square-foot backyard house, the garage conversion and the JADU stay available, while the 1,200-square-foot Ordinance ADU is the one that is restricted.

Treat the fire-zone count as a floor. The city layer we used was last edited in 2019, and CAL FIRE issued new recommended fire hazard maps for Los Angeles on March 24, 2025, which the Fire Department said would affect more parcels ³¹⁸. For what the fire zone adds to the build, such as ember-resistant materials and fire access, read our fire zone guide. For street width, floor area and grading on a hillside, read the Hillside Area guide.

Is my lot in the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan, and does that matter?

About one Studio City home in four is, and it can add a review step. By our count, 1,450 of the 5,837 single-family parcels in 91604 sit inside the plan area: 123 in the inner corridor and 1,327 in the outer corridor ⁵. All 1,450 are also in both the fire zone and a Hillside Area ⁵.

The plan's inner corridor runs 500 feet out from the Mulholland Drive right-of-way, and the outer corridor runs from there to one-half mile out ¹⁵. The plan defines a project as the construction of any building on a lot that is wholly or partly inside the plan area, and it says no building or grading permit shall be issued for a project until its plans are reviewed and approved by the Planning Director on the recommendation of the Mulholland design review board ¹⁶. City Planning's current handout says projects adding more than 900 square feet go to the board, while smaller ones may be approved through an administrative clearance, and that preliminary review is mandatory before any case is filed ¹⁷.

How this fits with state ADU law is the open question. City Planning's ADU guidance says state-law ADUs are exempt from local zoning, design and development standards ¹³. As of October 2026 we did not find City Planning guidance that says how the Mulholland review applies to an ADU. If your lot is in the plan area, ask the Mulholland staff before you pay for drawings, so you know whether you face a clearance, a board hearing or neither.

How big are Studio City lots, and does a big lot mean a big ADU?

Studio City lots run larger than the flat Valley, but on a slope the lot size overstates the room you have. Of the 5,837 single-family parcels in 91604, a quarter are under 6,737 square feet, the middle lot is 8,231 square feet, and a quarter are over 11,827 square feet ². The middle house was built in 1951 ².

On a flat lot of that size, an 800-square-foot backyard house with four-foot setbacks usually fits behind the house with room for the driveway; our guide to what fits on a 6,600 sq ft lot walks through a smaller layout. On a hillside lot, the usable pad is what counts. By our count, 3,538 parcels in 91604 (61%) are in the city's Hillside Grading Area ⁶, and LADBS requires permits for grading or earthwork there and usually a soils or geology report before those permits issue ¹⁹.

Height works the same way. For an Ordinance ADU, City Planning measures height under the rules of the zone, the Hillside Area and any specific plan that applies ¹⁴. Our height guide covers the limits, and the soils report guide covers when a report is needed.

Are other Studio City homeowners getting ADU permits?

Yes, but at a slower pace than the flat Valley. LADBS issued 55 ADU and JADU building permits in 91604 in 2023, 48 in 2024, 58 in 2025 and 35 in 2026 through Oct. 3 ¹. Scaled to a full year, 2026 is running about 20% below 2025. Counts are permits, not units, because one project can carry more than one permit.

Per home, Studio City builds at less than half the rate of the busiest Valley ZIPs. In 2025 the city issued about 10 ADU permits for every 1,000 single-family parcels in 91604, compared with about 23 in Reseda 91335 and about 6 in Woodland Hills 91364, the Valley ZIP with the most fire-zone homes ¹². The overlays above are a likely part of the reason, though the permit data does not say why. Our Valley permits by ZIP guide has the full ranking, and the guides to Sherman Oaks and Encino cover the neighboring hills.

What should I look up first for my Studio City address?

Start with the city's free parcel report. Look up your address in ZIMAS, the city's mapping system for a parcel's zoning and permit history ²⁰, and write down these items:

1. The fire zone and Hillside Area rows. If both apply, plan around a state-law ADU, not the 1,200-square-foot Ordinance ADU ¹².
2. Any specific plan. If the report lists the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan, ask the Mulholland staff how your ADU will be reviewed before you design it ¹⁶¹⁷.
3. Lot size and slope. Compare your lot with the Studio City range above, then look at how much of it is level ².
4. The garage's permit history, if you want a conversion. Our guide to checking whether a garage was permitted shows how.

Then check what ZIMAS does not settle: whether a backyard house deep on the lot is more than 150 feet from the street for fire access (access guide), whether the house has sprinklers (sprinkler guide), whether an oak or sycamore stands where you want to build (protected trees guide), and how far the sewer main is (sewer guide). Putting those answers together for one address is the kind of thing a lot check settles.

Quick answers

Sources

1. Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (N), dataset pi9x-tg5x, ZIP 91604 and comparison ZIPs, LADBS via City of Los Angeles Open Data (Greenlight query). Facts checked 2026-10-12
2. LA County Assessor parcel layer (LACounty_Parcel), single-family parcels in ZIP 91604, City of Los Angeles, LA County Assessor (Greenlight analysis). Facts checked 2026-10-12
3. Greenlight parcel count: City of LA single-family parcels in ZIP 91604 against the City of LA Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones layer, LA County Assessor parcel layer / City of Los Angeles GeoHub (Greenlight analysis). Facts checked 2026-10-12
4. Greenlight parcel count: City of LA single-family parcels in ZIP 91604 against the Hillside Area and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone layers, LA County Assessor parcel layer / City of Los Angeles GeoHub (Greenlight analysis). Facts checked 2026-10-12
5. Greenlight parcel count: City of LA single-family parcels in ZIP 91604 inside the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan area, LA County Assessor parcel layer / City of Los Angeles GeoHub, City Planning Specific Plan Areas (Greenlight analysis). Facts checked 2026-10-12
6. Greenlight parcel count: City of LA single-family parcels in ZIP 91604 inside the Hillside Grading Area, LA County Assessor parcel layer / City of Los Angeles GeoHub (Greenlight analysis). Facts checked 2026-10-12
7. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, Summary of ADU and JADU Development Standards, Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
8. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, quoting Gov. Code § 66323(a)(2), Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
9. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, on Gov. Code § 66323(a)(1), Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
10. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, section B (JADUs), Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
11. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, Table 1 (detached ADUs), Ordinance ADU column, Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
12. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, Q.42, Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
13. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, on Gov. Code § 66323(a), Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
14. ZA Memorandum No. 143, Revision 1 (LAMC Chapter 1): Implementation of the ADU Ordinance and State ADU Law, issued Aug. 1, 2025, Q.5, Los Angeles City Planning / LADBS. Facts checked 2026-10-12
15. Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan, Ordinance No. 167,943, Section 4 (Definitions), Los Angeles City Planning. Facts checked 2026-10-12
16. Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan, Ordinance No. 167,943, Section 4 (Definitions) and Section 11.A (Design Review Procedures, Jurisdiction), Los Angeles City Planning. Facts checked 2026-10-12
17. Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan General Information Handout, CP13-3618 (Jan. 20, 2026), Los Angeles City Planning. Facts checked 2026-10-12
18. 2025 CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones Map Recommendation (Apr. 4, 2025), Los Angeles Fire Department. Facts checked 2026-10-12
19. Grading Inspections, Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). Facts checked 2026-10-12
20. Zoning Search (ZIMAS), Los Angeles City Planning. Facts checked 2026-10-12

Greenlight is not a contractor, architect or engineer, and this is not legal advice. Rules change; every fact here shows the date we last checked it.