In 2020, a California homeowner sought permission to build a second living unit on his property; he says city delays lasted over three years and cost him more than $1 million, and an appeals court has revived his lawsuit

• The ruling affirmed homeowners’ right to timely ADU approvals under California’s streamlined permitting laws.
• Adding a second home on an existing residential property is often presented as one of California’s simplest answers to its housing shortage.
• But for one homeowner in Palos Verdes Estates, the effort to build an accessory dwelling unit became a years-long permitting battle.