Council’s Landmark ADU Reforms Affirmed in Court Ruling
Onerous fees, restrictive regulations and tangled bureaucracy are among the chief culprits in California’s housing shortage and affordability crisis, which is why the Bay Area Council celebrated a recent court ruling affirming streamlining reforms for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) we championed and sending a message to local jurisdictions that putting up obstacles to housing will not be tolerated.
The Council in 2016 sponsored the first of several landmark streamlining laws (SB 1069, Wiekowski) that ignited the ADU revolution sweeping the state and making ADUs one of the largest and fastest-growing types of new housing in California. Applications statewide for new ADUs jumped from an estimated 1,000 in 2015 to almost 42,000 last year. While many local jurisdictions have embraced ADUs and the Council reforms as a vehicle for creating affordable housing fast, others have required more of a nudge.
That was the case for a Southern California city that was sued by a homeowner for taking more than three years to approve plans for an ADU. The excessive delay ran afoul of legislation the Council sponsored limiting approval times to just several months. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, the judge in the case ruled that “state law is intended ‘to encourage homeowners to apply for permits and build ADUs without undue interference from local governments,’ and to ‘protect against the delays’ the homeowner suffered.”
The ruling could expose cities to costly penalties and, more broadly, could be applied to approval of other types of housing where projects meet local building, zoning and other documented standards. To engage in the Council’s housing policy work, please contact Senior Vice President Louis Mirante.
