Citrus Heights is a classic Sacramento County suburb built out in the postwar decades, and its housing stock reads like a catalog of the ranch house era: single-story ranch homes on quarter-acre lots, long side yards, and deep backyards along streets off Sunrise Boulevard, Greenback Lane, and Citrus Road. That lot geometry is genuinely good ADU territory — the parcels are wide enough that a detached backyard cottage usually fits without crowding the main house. Closer to the Sunrise Mall corridor and the Highway 50 end of town, newer townhome pockets and small-lot subdivisions are less typical ADU candidates, but the older ranch tracts are where most of our feasibility visits land.
For the ranch tracts, the detached ADU up to 1,200 square feet is the project we build most often. The wide lots mean the state’s four-foot side and rear setbacks are easy to satisfy, and a one- or two-bedroom cottage tucked behind the main house keeps the street-facing look of the neighborhood unchanged. Attached additions are the answer for homes where the family wants the ADU connected — for a parent or a caretaker — without crossing the yard to a separate structure.
Garage conversions are the second workhorse in Citrus Heights. Many of these ranch homes have oversized two-car garages that have become storage sheds, and converting one into a studio or one-bedroom unit is a clean, cost-effective path. State law protects that conversion: the city cannot force you to replace the parking you convert, and the unit still gets ministerial, by-right review. Junior ADUs up to 500 square feet, built entirely inside the existing home’s footprint, round out the options for larger ranch plans with a spare bedroom and a little remodeling room.
Permitting runs through the City of Citrus Heights Planning Division, and the state framework does the heavy lifting — by-right approval, four-foot setbacks, no owner-occupancy requirement on standard ADUs. One genuine local note: Citrus Heights has mature tree canopy and creek-adjacent corridors in places, and we occasionally see drainage or tree-protection notes on specific parcels, so our feasibility visit includes the lot conditions the city will actually look at. We confirm all of that before plans are drawn, not during plan check.
Rental demand here is fed by the Sunrise corridor, the Highway 50 commute, and the steady churn of state and county workers settling in the suburbs. The practical construction notes are the postwar basics: 60- and 70-year-old panels that may need an upgrade to carry a second unit, aging clay sewer laterals, and garages whose slabs and framing need a real evaluation before conversion. Our own crews handle the electrical, plumbing, and structural review of the existing home as part of every project, so the main house and the ADU arrive at inspection day together.
Ready to find out what your Citrus Heights lot can carry? ADU Cities is a Southern California ADU design-build firm — we handle feasibility, design, permits, and construction under one roof. Call 562.810.1965 for a free consultation and site evaluation. CSLB #1138550.
