Kansas forced cities to approve ADUs, and wrote covenants a shield
Kansas forced cities to approve ADUs, and wrote covenants a shield
2026-09-10 · Kansas · Legislation
Kansas cities can no longer put an accessory dwelling unit through discretionary review. Kansas homeowners associations still can. Senate Bill 418, the by-right housing development act, was approved by Governor Laura Kelly on April 7, 2026 as Chapter 76 of the session laws, and it carries a single subsection that decides how the whole act lands on the roughly 2,000 community associations in the state: it does not reach them at all.1
That is not an oversight, and not a gap that litigation will have to fill later. It is an express sentence in the act.
What the act does to city hall
New Section 1(c)(1) is the operative command: “All proposed housing developments, including single-family homes, townhouses and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), that meet the definition of a by-right housing development pursuant to subsection (b)(2) and the criteria outlined in the zoning code and land use regulations shall be approved by-right, without the need for discretionary review or approval by planning commissions, zoning boards or other regulatory bodies.”2
An ADU is defined at subsection (b)(1) as “a secondary housing unit that is subordinate to the primary dwelling unit on the same lot and may include a separate kitchen, bathroom and entrance.” A qualifying townhouse project is capped at “a maximum of 12 attached units.” To reach by-right status a project must also clear four screens set out in subsection (b)(2): no federal or state discharge permit or stormwater drainage study required; public infrastructure extensions either unnecessary, already complete, or agreed to as a condition of approval; no increase in impervious surface that adversely affects drainage into a special flood hazard area; and no location inside a national-register historic district or other historic-preservation review.
The act then puts city hall on a clock. A complete application is “deemed approved unless the application is denied within 30 days of receipt by the permitting or regulatory authority, or within 60 days for an application that requires approval of a subdivision plat pursuant to K.S.A. 12-752, and amendments thereto, or within 90 days for an application that requires approval of a subdivision plat of more than 40 single-family homes.” Miss the window and the permit issues by operation of law.
Subsection (e), quoted in full
Then comes the sentence that matters to boards. Subsection (e) is captioned “Restrictive covenants or condominium association or homeowners association regulations,” and it reads: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to invalidate or limit the legality, enforceability or effect of restrictive covenants or condominium association or homeowners association regulations. Courts shall recognize and enforce such covenants and regulations in accordance with applicable laws.”
What this changes for a Kansas board
A city permit is now a much weaker signal than it was. Before SB 418, an owner who wanted to add a garage apartment usually had to survive a public hearing, and a neighbor or the association could appear and object. For qualifying projects that forum is gone. The first many Kansas boards will hear of an ADU is when the foundation goes in. Architectural committees that quietly relied on the municipal process as an early-warning system now need their own trigger — a submittal requirement in the association's rules, adopted under K.S.A. 58-4617(c), which lets an association “adopt rules to establish and enforce construction and design criteria and aesthetic standards if the declaration so provides.”4
Read the declaration for what it actually says about second dwellings. Subsection (e) preserves what you have; it creates nothing. A declaration barring “more than one single-family dwelling per lot” reaches an ADU cleanly. A declaration silent on second kitchens, separate entrances, or accessory structures used as living space has nothing to enforce — and the state has just required the city to say yes. That line, between a clear directly applicable covenant and silence, is where Kansas ADU disputes will be decided over the next two years.
Do not read subsection (e) as permission to invent a rule. It preserves covenants and “regulations” that already exist and are otherwise lawful. A board that answers the act by adopting a brand-new ADU ban still has to clear K.S.A. 58-4617(f), which allows rules affecting the use of a residential unit only to implement a provision of the declaration, or to regulate behavior that violates the declaration or adversely affects other owners' use and enjoyment. A rule with no anchor in the declaration is exposed however the city ruled.
The asymmetry worth naming out loud
The Legislature made a deliberate choice, and it made the same one twice in the same session. In SB 418 it stripped municipalities of discretion and left associations untouched. In HB 2603, the battery-charged security fence preemption, it put the point in the definitions: “Municipality” does not include a homeowners or similar private, nongovernmental association.
Kansas is deregulating public land-use control while leaving private land-use control exactly where it stood. For an owner inside a covenanted subdivision, the practical effect of the state's largest housing law in years may be close to zero. For an owner on an unrestricted lot it is substantial. Boards can expect that gap to be noticed, and to arrive as an agenda item at the next annual meeting.
What to watch next
Watch the compliance ordinances. Cities are rewriting code to match the act now, and the drafting choice worth tracking is whether any of them condition an ADU permit on proof that private covenants allow the unit. Nothing in SB 418 requires that, and subsection (e) assigns covenant enforcement to courts, not to city staff. A city that tried it would be volunteering for a fight the Legislature did not ask it to have.
Watch, too, for the first Kansas appellate opinion construing subsection (e). There is none. Until there is, the sentence means what it says.
Related Kansas HOA Topics
- 2026 Session Laws of Kansas, Chapter 76 (SB 418) — Kansas Secretary of State ↩
- Senate Bill No. 418, enrolled text, 2026 Kansas Legislature ↩
- SB 418 bill history, Kansas State Legislature ↩
- K.S.A. 58-4617, Rules; adoption procedures; notice — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes ↩
- Kansas 2026 End of Session report, Community Associations Institute ↩
Stay on top of Kansas HOA law
Every week: new Kansas legislation, court rulings, and regulatory developments affecting condos, planned communities, and property managers. Free.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.