The city of Guadalupe is in the process of looking at the parameters under which ADUs, or accessory dwelling units, can be built.
Larry Appel, the city’s planning director, said Guadalupe wants to keep up with state regulation. He said that while there are only five or six ADUs in the city, new bills making their way through the state Legislature could totally change the market.
“We’ve changed our ordinance a couple times trying to keep up with the state,” Appel said. “I’ve been following 10 bills that are going through Sacramento, and it looks like four are going to be signed by the governor.”
Appel said the first piece of legislation, Assembly Bill 670, would supersede existing city laws and regulations. The bill would override housing developments’ existing covenants, convenience, and restrictions that would have otherwise prevented the construction of ADUs.
Such backyard dwellings, sometimes called granny units, have grown in prominence as California housing costs have increased. Sometimes homeowners use the backyard units for aging parents or as guest houses.
“They’re trying very hard to address the housing crisis, and they think these ADUs are the way to go,” Appel said.
The city held a public hearing on Sept. 24 to discuss the new state mandates on ADUs.
Another bill on the governor’s desk, AB 68, wouldn’t require the owner of the property to live on-site with the ADU and would allow another structure referred to as a “junior ADU” to be built, something currently prohibited by the city of Guadalupe.
Two more bills await Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. AB 881 would reduce the mandatory processing time for an ADU permit from 120 to 60 days. AB 587 would allow a property owner to bring a nonprofit on-site to build and manage and ADU.
Guadalupe is considering what its response will be to the possible changes. So far, the California League of Cities has voiced its opposition to the bills. The organization drafted a veto bill that would strike the proposed Senate Bill 13, which went to the governor’s desk on Sept. 20, from consideration. The veto takes special issue with what might happen to parking.
“When a garage, carport, or covered parking structure is demolished or converted into an ADU, SB 13 would prohibit a city from requiring replacement parking. This would only exacerbate existing parking conflicts because we are already currently prohibited from imposing parking requirements on new ADUs if they are within one-half mile of transit,” the veto said.
—William D’Urso
This article appears in Sep 26 – Oct 3, 2019.