I just thought of a couple of other restrictions on companion units in the city of San Diego…
Max sf of the unit is 700sf.
Owner must occupy one of the two units. (Primary or CU). In other words – you can’t rent both the primary house and the companion unit – owner must occupy one of the two.
If you are designing it with handicapped features (accessible bathroom, wheelchair ramps, etc.) then that portion is NOT included in your property tax assessment for the CU.
At the time our permit was approved, only 5 applicants had made it past the first weed out phase in the previous 5 years. (They won’t consider your application till you show the double lot.) We, as far as I know, are one of only 2 permits issued in the past 5 years. And when we got this information, we’re the only ones who completed the companion unit. The link above shows only 18 CU’s had been approved between 1984 and 2003.
