Guest houses in Poway

[exsdgal]

My in-laws are moving in with us, and we are looking at the option of either expanding the house, or possibly adding a guest house. I like the idea of a guest house, but am not sure on the process involved.

Would like to get your input on remodeling process/efforts involved in building a detached unit with kitchen and bath. Also suggestions on contractors who have experience in Poway would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch.

[sdrealtor]

send a private message to UCGAL. She built one and her husbands an architect. Or ask bearishgurl. She knows everything LOL

[CDMA ENG]

[quote=sdrealtor]send a private message to UCGAL. She built one and her husbands an architect. Or ask bearishgurl. She knows everything LOL[/quote]

Ditto.

UCGal gave me the low down on building a Granny Suite. I think you will be very dissappointed in what she tells you. The zoning is very restrictive and I believe the best way to go is building an extension to the house. I understand that you may not want to always be under the same roof but I think building an add on with some sort of disconnect (e.g. a door) would be the best bet.

The short of it is that you will only be allowed 700 sq ft of liviable space along with several other restrictive rules.

UCGal is my maestro in this matter. I suggest her as a key first step.

CE

[UCGal]

Did someone mention my name? Lol.

Poway might not be as restrictive as the city of San Diego… so you’ll have to check into this. San Diego has the most restrictive interpretation of the state laws for “companion units”. Here’s the rules for San Diego:

* lot size must be double what the minimum is for your zone. In our hood minimum lot size is 5k SF… so we needed at least 10k lot. In north park, where the lot size can be smaller, the lot only needed to be 7k SF.

* maximum SF of the companion unit is 700 SF. Since we were designing a wheelchair accessible place this limited us to a 1 br in order to have rooms that were big enough to have room for the wheelchair to manouver.

* San Diego required that we sign a deed restriction saying at least one of the houses would be owner occupied. In other words we can only rent one or the other house… not both.

* San Diego has a weird “street wall” rule for the offstreet parking spot for the companion unit. I doubt Poway (or any jurisdiction other than San Diego) has this. It basically requires that there is room in front and to the side of your house for an extra parking spot.

* San Diego requires that the companion unit be on the back part of your lot. For us that pushed us into hillside development, expensive grading, etc.

San Diego rules can be found here:
http://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter14/Ch14Art01Division03.pdf

Here are some other links about the issues:
http://www.sandiegoissues.com/OtherCAcities.htm

[UCGal]

One more comment… for us it was the perfect situation for us to help care for my in laws while still giving them independance. My kids have loved having their grandparents around. The home was designed with the issues of my fater in laws mobility in mind (roll in shower, wider doorways, etc)… This has allowed my mother in law to continue to be the caregiver rather than incur the expense and emotional price of having to put my father in law in assisted care. Despite serious contractor issues we would do it again (but with different contractors.)

[NotCranky]

exsdgal,

I suppose you have looked at moving?

You might get a much better deal than with building, without the potential pitfalls. Try to compare buying something else with building,if you haven’t. In this market it probably makes as much sense as ever to buy instead of build.

You could buy a bigger house and do a very inexpensive interior bootleg apartment with the option of removing modifications one day.
If you can find it, buying a place with a fully permitted second unit would be more cost effective and no building/contractor nightmares. They just don’t add much to resale prices. I designed and built my own “second dwelling unit”, even with only about 4k in labor, the house with its own garage doesn’t increase equity above cost.

I don’t see much economic value in adding second units in most cases. It won’t pencil out and you lose land. You will lose privacy forever if you ever become dependent on renting it. You likely won’t be able to rent both, as in UcGal’s case and my own.

[exsdgal]

Thanks for all the comments, and suggestions.

UCGal – ty for the links, I will look into associated rules for Poway.

[sdduuuude]

The rules UCGal posted match up with my understanding as well.

When I built my detatched garage in Clairemont, the inspector was very leery of anything that suggested I might be planning on sneaking a kitchen or bathroom into the garage. So, the city pays close attention to this. I don’t think it is something you could possibly sneak by a planner.

I think that Agricultural-Residential lots allow the second structure even if the the lot size is not 2x the min. I’m not 100% sure about that, though. Still, I would expect the more rural environment of Poway to be less restrictive on this.

[UCGal]

[quote=sdduuuude]The rules UCGal posted match up with my understanding as well.

When I built my detatched garage in Clairemont, the inspector was very leery of anything that suggested I might be planning on sneaking a kitchen or bathroom into the garage. So, the city pays close attention to this. I don’t think it is something you could possibly sneak by a planner.

I think that Agricultural-Residential lots allow the second structure even if the the lot size is not 2x the min. I’m not 100% sure about that, though. Still, I would expect the more rural environment of Poway to be less restrictive on this.[/quote]

I could be wrong on this (probably am) but I seem to remember that Poway follows the unincorporated county rules – which directly follows the State guidelines.

I’m not sure (haven’t read the whole pdf) – but I think this is the latest guidelines for the county building department.
http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/dplu/docs/ZC009.pdf

[southern5footer]

Has anyone gathered any additional information about Poway and granny flats?

My husband and I are looking into purchasing a house that has 2 acres that were originally 4 1/2 acre lots. There is one house but would really like to build a granny flat for my father. Trying to decide if this is a feasible plan?

Any input is appreciated.

[exsdgal]

The feasibility of a granny flat depends on the property zoning in Poway. A small region (mostly along Espola) allowed for a guest house or a second dwelling unit. If the granny flat will have a separate kitchen then the second dwelling restrictions apply.

You can get the latest info by visiting Poway City Hall in Civic Center Dr.

Here are few things I learnt during my last check
– the property must be on septic
– guest house/granny flat area is 25% of the main residence (500-1500sf)
– attached/detached single level similar architecture to the main house
– new septic/sewer is required if the existing septic capacity does not support the guest house
– if a new septic is required the lot should have sufficient useable land to support i) existing septic’s backup leach fields ii) new septics leach field + a backup
– a guest house can not have a kitchen
– any new construction over 499 sf has a special school assessment fees for the entire project
– second dwelling unit requires a minor development review
– one of the units should always be owner occupied
– space for a one car attached/detached garage in case of a second dwelling unit

Good luck with your project.

[spdrun]

No kitchen. Hmmmmmm. Can it have a laundry room with lots of counter space and a 240V outlet? For the dryer, naturally.

[exsdgal]

Poway makes a distinction between a guest house and a second dwelling unit. The differentiator being the existence of kitchen. A guest house is meant for occasional use, while a second dwelling is considered a permanent living arrangement.

Also guest house construction did not require a minor development review. This means less fees and quicker plan approvals….

Regardless of a guest house/second dwelling unit the rest of the considerations apply including owner occupancy constraints.

[southern5footer]

Thank you for all of this information. This was/is really useful. I’m going to have to take a trip to the City. Of the 4 lots, 1 is zoned for residential, 2 for Misc and 1 for “Call The City.” lol THey are all in RR-A.

[cvmom]

I have had excellent experience with this contractor, based in Poway

Doug Smith 858-208-7437
[email protected]

[Author]

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