Permits
ADU Permit Timelines in the Bay Area, City by City
How long an ADU permit actually takes in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Menlo Park, and the rest of the peninsula, and what California state law guarantees.
California's statewide ADU law (Gov. Code §65852.2) requires every city to issue or deny an ADU permit within 60 days of a complete submittal. In practice, almost no Bay Area city hits that window on the first pass, but the law still gives you real leverage.
Here's what real permit timelines look like in 2026, measured from first submittal to permit issuance:
- Mountain View, 2 to 3 months typical.
- Palo Alto, 3 to 5 months, longer if a historic resource is nearby.
- Los Altos, 2 to 4 months; tree review can add a cycle.
- Menlo Park, 2 to 4 months.
- Atherton / Hillsborough / Woodside, 4 to 7 months. Architectural review adds time.
- Saratoga / Los Altos Hills / Portola Valley, 3 to 6 months; geotech often required.
The single biggest factor is the quality of the submittal package. Submittals that come back with one round of corrections finish months ahead of submittals that come back with three. That's why SHAPE bundles permitting into the design phase, our drawings are produced by the same team that runs them through plan check.
Let's build it.
A free 30-minute call with our team. You'll leave with a feasibility read on your lot and a real sense of what the project costs and how long it takes.
