The first of several new proposals aimed at solving San Diego’s affordable housing crisis took a key step forward when the Planning Commission unanimously approved loosening regulations on granny flats.

Making it easier for homeowners to add a second housing unit on their property is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to increase the local supply of housing affordable to people with low and middle incomes, city officials said.

Granny flats also have the potential to fight climate change and reduce traffic congestion by increasing opportunities for workers to live closer to their jobs, officials said.

More granny flats, officially called “companion units” by the city, would also give struggling homeowners extra money to cover their mortgage and property taxes, another way to boost local housing affordability.

Critics, however, expressed concerns about parking problems, encouraging more short-term vacation rentals, conflicts with city “minidorm” legislation and whether suburban parts of the city should have different granny flat rules than urban areas.

The new city rules, which still must be approved by the City Council this summer, would go significantly beyond state efforts to ease granny flat regulations that took effect in January.

The new state laws force cities to soften regulations for granny flats regarding parking, installation of fire sprinklers, requirements to hook up public utilities and rules requiring setbacks — buffer areas between structures and property lines.

Those laws apply to granny flats of 1,200 square feet or less and garages of that size converted into granny flats.

In addition to those changes, the city would allow granny flats to be created inside single family homes as long each such unit is equipped with a kitchenette, but a separate bathroom wouldn’t be required.

Called “junior companion units” in the proposed regulations, these could be a maximum of 500 square feet and would cost far less to construct than a separate structure on the property.

A kitchenette is defined under the proposed regulations as a room with a sink, a cooking facility with appliances, a food preparation counter and storage cabinets. Tenants in a junior granny flat could use bathrooms located elsewhere in the house.

The city would also soften regulations for traditional granny flats beyond the state modifications.

The granny flat proposal is the first legislation to come forward of a large package proposed this year by Mayor Faulconer, City Councilman Scott Sherman and others.

Addition proposals include reducing fees housing developers pay to build nearby parks, incentivizing developers to build smaller units instead of larger ones, and accelerating redevelopment of Huffman-style apartment buildings.

Others are allowing developers to build more intense projects if they contribute to the city’s fund to construct subsidized housing, and making it harder for neighborhoods to be declared historic.

Mary Lydon, spokeswoman for a local nonprofit called Housing You Matters, praised the proposed granny flat legislation.
"Catalyzing an increase of companion units is a small part of the equation of solving our housing crisis, but it's a great one to get us started," she told the commission.

Source: SDuniontribune by David Garrick