Senate Bill 1069 Makes it easier to add Granny Flats

[HLS]

Lawmakers in Sacramento just made it a lot easier for homeowners to build a granny flat in their backyard, which some San Diego leaders think could help ease housing woes.

The change reduces fees paid by homeowners who build secondary units on their property and, in many cases, eliminate requirements for more parking spots.

The legislation from state Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, takes effect in January. It was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week.
“SB 1069 returns more power to homeowners and reins in some of the enormous fees and requirements levied by local agencies,” Wieckowski said in a statement.

Although building secondary units on property for elderly parents coined the term “granny flats,” real estate agents and lawmakers say rent is so high that just about everyone is trying to get in one nowadays.

“It’s a modest step,” said Steve Russell, executive director of the San Diego Housing Federation. “Anything that contributes to housing supply is part of the solution . . . it’s a big drop in the bucket but it’s still just a drop in the bucket.”
Russell said the legislation was, in some ways, a response to a 2002 law to encourage granny flats but was hampered by municipalities that added too many restrictions.

“This is one of the few actions coming out of Sacramento that seems to recognize the depth and severity of the housing crisis,” he said.
The law was opposed by the League of California Cities, which asked the governor to veto the bill because it said it took away local control, and would cause traffic and congestion with the elimination of traffic requirements. It also said cutting fees associated with utilities was a bad idea.
“Additional limitations mean fiscal hardships to utility providers,”

The desire to allow for more accessory dwelling units has been catching on with planners for a long time.
Even the White House’s recent Housing Development Toolkit suggested granny flats as a way for additional affordable housing.
Anthony Andaya, president of the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors, said granny flats allow for extra rent cash to offset the rising price of homes.
“This allows homeowners to get a little more income out of their properties, which is nice for owners to counteract some of their larger costs right now,” he said.

The legislation says that as long as the granny flat meets current zoning guidelines, the homeowners can avoid having to get a conditional use permit.
Homeowners can get out of providing parking for granny units, which cannot exceed 1,200-square-feet, as long as it is within a half mile of public transit, if they are part of an existing primary residence or in an architecturally and historically significant district.

Local agencies would be blocked from charging connection fees for the granny flats for water and sewer service. Other requirements, such as adding fire sprinklers for small accessory dwelling units even if the primary residence doesn’t need them, are eliminated under the legislation.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1069

[bearishgurl]

I’m against accessory dwelling units unless the property owner has minimum 1/4 AC lot, alley access (or both). Many residential streets in SD County are already too crowded because there are too many drivers living in one house as well as too few houses which actually have an empty-enough garage to park in. The street parking is already terrible and in neighborhoods with <=5K sf lots, there is barely enough room in front of each house to park one vehicle on the street (w/o blocking driveways). There are too many adult children (extra drivers) still living with mom and dad and many people buy way too many vehicles .... more than they have any business owning because they don't have the land (OR usable garage) to store them on or in. The ideal accessory dwelling unit in SD has an alley-facing garage or carport. That's the best situation which won't be a headache to the neighbors.

[spdrun]

Parking in San Diego is a cakewalk as compared to most similarly-sized US cities. OMG, you might have to walk a block after finding a spot!

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]Parking in San Diego is a cakewalk as compared to most similarly-sized US cities. OMG, you might have to walk a block after finding a spot![/quote]

Haha. That’s how I feel. There’s no traffic in San Diego. People are so needy.

neighborhoods in San Diego can easily double density without new infrastructure. Then we can have public transport

[bearishgurl]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=spdrun]Parking in San Diego is a cakewalk as compared to most similarly-sized US cities. OMG, you might have to walk a block after finding a spot![/quote]

Haha. That’s how I feel. There’s no traffic in San Diego. People are so needy.

neighborhoods in San Diego can easily double density without new infrastructure. Then we can have public transport[/quote]FIH, I can tell by your comment that YOU have never lived on a street that is constantly lined with cars on both sides 24/7 (some parked nearly blocking driveway aprons and touching the red zones). And YOU have never had neighbors with 4 or more vehicles where their garage was full of junk and their driveway only holds 1-2 vehicles :=0

[FlyerInHi]

I used to live downtown and had 2 parking spaces.

My brother lived downtown and had 1 space. His girlfriend parked on the street and they paid a homeless guy to watch the car. Never got broken into.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=FlyerInHi]I used to live downtown and had 2 parking spaces.

My brother lived downtown and had 1 space. His girlfriend parked on the street and they paid a homeless guy to watch the car. Never got broken into.[/quote]That is not the kind of life I want, thank you. I want a LOCKED GARAGE of my own to park in and be able to back out of my driveway easily (without the nose of an F-250 sticking out into my driveway apron). And I like a driveway wide enough to have side pkg for a vehicle so the vehicle(s) parked in the garage can back out of the garage without hitting the vehicle in the side pkg (a driveway wide enough for boat/RV pkg). And I don’t want any homeless people hanging around my ‘hood and going thru my trash and recycle bins on trash day, thank you. And I don’t want to look out my front window and have my front view blocked by huge SUVs and trucks parked at my curb all day every day. And I am not alone. I think if you will poll the Piggs, you will find that NONE of this is too much to ask.

You live however you want to, FIH. Different strokes for different folks.

[barnaby33]

Not In Her Back Yard!
Josh

[bewildering]

[quote=spdrun]Parking in San Diego is a cakewalk as compared to most similarly-sized US cities. OMG, you might have to walk a block after finding a spot![/quote]

North Park is pretty bad in my experience.

[Author]

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