Has anyone done a variance for a studio?

[jpinpb]

Hi All

It’s been a while. We are trying to build a studio in the back of our place. We have a permitted enclosed 400 sf patio area that we want to turn into a studio. We were told we can build a room, even have a sink and toilet, but no stove or shower. The reason for this is because the alley behind us is unfinished/unimproved.

CAR mentioned/asked if we tried to get a variance. Has anyone gotten a variance or any idea how to go about doing this?

UCGal, would you know?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

jp

[spdrun]

Studio apt or art studio?

[jpinpb]

Ideally a studio apartment/granny flat for mom/in-laws w/a kitchen. I checked into it and it wouldn’t be a problem if we had an improved alley. But it’s a dirt alley and we were told that because it is unfinished, parking, etc, that we could not do the studio apartment.

I spoke w/CAR about it and she mentioned obtaining a variance perhaps. But I have no idea. So I’m seeking advice from the experts. 🙂

[spdrun]

Build room with largish bathroom (as is legal). Get inspected. Add stove/shower later. Call it an office.

Question is: how nosy are your neighbors?

[jpinpb]

Yes. I know that is an option.

Neighbors are practically the head of neighborhood watch. Verrry nosy.

Plus I hear that if you “illegally” rent out a unit and you’ve got a smart tenant, that tenant can squat and demand rent payment that’s been paid back to him, can sue for illegally renting the unit to him/her.

So we kinda would like to do it right. We figure, rent til mom is ready to move in. She still has to sell her place in NJ. Could be a while.

[jpinpb]

We’ve also somewhat checked the termperature of improving the alley. There’s less than a handful of houses that have alley access at present. So most of the homeowners have no interest in seeing the alley improved. Last time someone expressed having it done was tens of years before us and no one wanted to pay the extra taxes to do it. I figured we’d be looking at the same scenario.

[spdrun]

As far as the tenant thing … make sure to screen your tenants very carefully. Look for someone who’s coming from abroad or the other coast and is in town for a few months on business. Basically, most people want long-term tenants. You want the exact opposite, so it’s easy to find.

[NotCranky]

[quote=jpinpb]Ideally a studio apartment/granny flat for mom/in-laws w/a kitchen. I checked into it and it wouldn’t be a problem if we had an improved alley. But it’s a dirt alley and we were told that because it is unfinished, parking, etc, that we could not do the studio apartment.

I spoke w/CAR about it and she mentioned obtaining a variance perhaps. But I have no idea. So I’m seeking advice from the experts. :)[/quote]

I built a second house in a back yard in Normal Heights. The alley was unimproved. The owner had to get an engineer designed section of concrete road put in between his property lines. This was a unit allowed by zoning not a variance. One parking space per bedroom was required.

Notice how when you hit alleys in some areas it’s dirt then pavement then dirt. This is where it comes from.

[jpinpb]

Thanks, Blogstar. I’ll see if that’s an option of just getting that section done.

Otherwise, maybe if there’s anyone else that knows about getting a variance, would love the info.

[UCGal]

Hey JP – good to “see” you. I remember your patio and it sounds like a great project.

As you probably know – the granny flat laws are pretty rigid in San Diego. But I believe they were relaxed a bit, last year.

Our sticking issue was the offstreet parking and the “street wall” requirement. We were only a few inches shy of having it work without having to literally pave over our front yard. We showed them that – showed them we could meet the technical requirements – by paving over (too much impervious cover is not good for groundwater, storm sewer, etc.) We offered another option – which would have been more expensive… and reduced the total number of offstreet parking spots (reorienting the garage/driveway) – which would have been technically within the rules… but again – with negative consequences to the intent (off street parking). They gave us the variance for the 7″.

We found that if we kept working with the reviewers at development services… showing good faith on our part, offering solutions/counter proposals… we were eventually able to get the permit approved. But my husband spend many many hours down at development services working through it.

Given your neighbor situtation… I would definitely want to keep everything legal. We had some neighbors express concern – but since we had a permit, and everything was on the up and up, they were unable to do anything about it.

(The same neighbors have since told us that they really like the way it turned out – they thought it was going to be an eyesore, and its’ really nice looking.)

[UCGal]

Looking at current code… Looks like your issue is similar to ours. (the offstreet parking.)

Again – I would talk to development services about options.

I don’t remember the exact details of your front yard – but recall you had a garage facing the street. How much side yard do you have between the side of the garage and the property line. (That’s the steet wall issue). And how deep is the driveway between the front of the garage and the sidewalk. Is it possible to put a car there, even if it’s a few inches short.

The law doesn’t say the tenant must park in the spot you provide… they can still park off the alley… but you have to *have* the spot to get the permit.

[jpinpb]

TY UCGal. I will check into this a little more. I appreciate the feedback!

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