TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Isidro Figueroa, Community Development Director
DATE: November 13, 2024
SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ADOPTION OF
ORDINANCE NO. O-24-1416 AMENDING MUNICIPAL
CODE SECTIONS 23.01.01 AND 23.02.25 TO IMPLEMENT
STATE LAW REGARDING ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Beautiful, Preserved, Single-Family Neighborhoods
Safe Community
BACKGROUND
Local jurisdictions have little discretion and limited authority to adopt local regulations or restrictions when it comes to accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs). Staff has prepared an ordinance that updates the City’s Municipal Code to make it consistent with recent changes to state law.
The City’s Housing Element Encourages the Development of ADUs/JADUs The City Council has expressed support for encouraging development of ADUs and JADUs as one of several tools to provide additional housing options throughout the City and to meet the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation determination. The City Council provided direction to Staff on ADU development during discussions throughout the 6th Cycle Housing Element update. The City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element contains several policies intended to incentivize and promote the construction of ADUs.
Steven W. Huang, DDS, Mayor
Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Vice Mayor
Tony Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
Steve Talt, Council Member
Specifically, the City’s Housing Element acknowledges that “[t]he provisions of ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) and JADUs (Junior Accessory Dwelling Units), and the adoption of a voluntary Universal Design program, can help to address these special needs [referring to disabled senior citizens].” Policy 1.3 of the Housing Element is to “[c]ontinue to encourage and promote the development of accessory dwelling units as an important housing resource.”
Policy 1.4 of the Housing Element is to “[e]ncourage the construction of attached accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units to house multi-generational families, and as a source of affordable housing for extremely low- and lower-income households and persons with disabilities (including those with developmental disabilities).”
In order to implement Policies 1.3 and 1.4, the City has adopted Programs
1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 of the Housing Element to encourage ADU/JADU construction. Program 1.2 is for the City to encourage and facilitate ADU/JADU construction by utilizing pre-approved plans that have already gone through the City’s building plan check process and which meet the City’s guidelines for architectural design, to save time and money for applicants. Under Program
1.2, the City will also consider adoption of a program to financially assist lowincome property owners in the development of JADUs through a low-interest or forgivable loan in exchange for continued affordability, beginning with a pilot program.
Under Program 1.3, the City will annually monitor the effectiveness of its strategy for encouraging ADU/JADU construction and suggests that if the City is not meeting its objectives for ADU/JADU construction by 2024 that it consider updating the City’s ADU/JADU ordinance to ensure compliance with state law.
Program 1.4 calls for the City to distribute information on ADUs and their required development standards with the goal of achieving an average construction rate of 25-30 annually. The City will post information and/or links about ADUs, their costs, financing, tax implications, and return on investment on its website.
The City’s General Plan Encourages the Development of ADUs/JADUs The proposed Ordinance is also consistent with the City’s General Plan.
Specifically, the proposed Ordinance complies with Objectives L.1 (Estate Residential), L.2 (Very Low Density Residential), and L.3 (Low Density Residential) of the General Plan which permit residential areas to have ADUs/JADUs to meet state housing requirements.
The City’s ADU Ordinance Update is Required to Comply with State Law Prior to the City Council adopting the recent ADU Ordinance on March 14, 2024, the City last updated its Municipal Code sections governing ADUs and JADUs in 2020.
Over the past three years, Governor Newsom has signed into effect a multitude of new laws that impact ADUs and JADUs:
• 2021: AB 345 (permitting separate conveyance of ADUs from primary dwellings in limited circumstances), AB 3182 and AB 68 (streamlining ADU approvals);
• 2022: SB 897 and AB 2221 (increasing height limits of ADUs); and • 2023: AB 976 (extending ability to impose owner-occupancy requirements), and AB 1332 (pre-approved ADU plan sets).
On November 21, 2023, the Planning Commission conducted a special public hearing to review and take public comment on Ordinance No. O-24-1411. The Planning Commission unanimously voted (5-0) to adopt Planning Commission Resolution No. PCR-23-18, recommending that the City Council adopt Ordinance No. O-24-1411 with revisions to correct formatting errors, eliminate landscaping as a basis of obscuring windows with direct sight, clarify that transfers of ADUs/JADUs will be permitted when mandated by state law, replace the term “possible” with “feasible” in reference to where ADUs/JADUs may be located on a property when a protected tree is present, and further review and address the concerns from the public comment received by the California Housing Defense Fund (CalHDF) as identified on Attachment #1.
The City Attorney’s Office has determined that the edits address the comments in the CalHDF letter.
On February 23, 2024, the City Council conducted a public hearing to review and take public comment on Ordinance No. O-24-1411 and unanimously voted (5-0) to waive full reading and introduce by title only the Ordinance. On March 14, 2024, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. O-24-1411.
The Ordinance was forwarded to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for their review of the Ordinance to determine compliance with the applicable Housing State laws. On August 26, 2024, HCD sent a letter notifying that the City’s adopted Ordinance does not comply with State ADU and JDU laws as described in the findings included in the letter (Attachment #1).
On October 23, 2024, the Planning Commission conducted a public hearing to review and take public comment on the proposed ADU Ordinance amendment.
The Planning Commission unanimously voted (5-0) to adopt Resolution No.
PCR-24-12, recommending that the City Council adopt Ordinance No. O-24- 1416.
DISCUSSION
Staff has prepared a draft ordinance for your review (Attachment #2), which would amend Municipal Code Sections 23.01.01 (Definitions) and 23.02.25 (Accessory Dwelling Units) to be consistent with State ADU and JADU laws.
The proposed Ordinance would make the following changes to the Municipal Code:
1. Amend Municipal Code Section 23.01.01 (Definitions) to clarify that ADUs are allowed in the same parcel where multifamily dwelling is or will be situated and that ADUs converted from existing or proposed space may not be precluded from development;
2. Update references to outdated Government Code Sections;
3. Amend Municipal Code Section 23.02.25(C) to include the requirement that it must return denied applications for ADUs/JADUs with a list of items that are defective and/or deficient and how the application can be remedied by the applicant;
4. Clarify that ADUs must be allowed in all areas zoned to allow singlefamily or multi-family use;
5. Amend to identify that one ADU and JADU converted from within the proposed space of a single-family dwelling or existing space of a singlefamily dwelling or accessory structure and one detached ADU are allowed within a property consistent with State ADU law;
6. Incorporate the “substantial evidence” standard in Municipal Code Section 23.02.25(E)(4);
7. Remove the deed restriction requirement for ADUs and amend the deed restriction requirements for JADUs to comply with State ADU law;
8. Amend the Ordinance to reduce the minimum period that a JADU must be rented for from 90 days to 30 days to be consistent with ADU State law;
9. Update Municipal Code Section 23.02.25(F)(2)(d) to allow for the development of multiple accessory dwelling units within the portions of existing multi-family dwelling structures that are not used as livable space in accordance with Government Code Section 66323(a)(3);
10. Specify that ADUs described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Government Code Section 66323 are exempt from the “Separate Utilities” requirement in the Ordinance;
11. Amend the Ordinance to clarify that residents may request delays in enforcement of building standards prescribed by the Ordinance under certain conditions subject to compliance with Section 17980.12 of the Health and Safety Code, pursuant to Government Code section 66331;
12. Clarify the height requirements for ADUs to be consistent with ADU State law;
13. Clarify setback, parking and design standards to be consistent with ADU and Housing State laws;
14. Amend the Ordinance to include more precise owner-occupancy language to specify that the owner of the single-family dwelling—as opposed to the parcel owner—must reside in the single-family dwelling or JADU when a JADU is proposed for the site;
15. Amend the Ordinance to comply with Government Code Section 66333(d) to clarify that a JADU that is “contained entirely within the walls of the existing or proposed Single Family Dwelling Unit includes attached garages; and
16. Clarify JADU interior entry requirement to comply with Government Code Section 66333(e)(2).
17. One additional change has been included after the Planning Commission’s review to conform to the limit on the number of ADUs set forth in the recently adopted SB1211.
CEQA REVIEW
The City reviewed the environmental impacts of this Ordinance under the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq. “CEQA”) and the regulations promulgated thereunder (14 Cal. Code of Regs. §§ 15000, et seq., the “CEQA Guidelines”) and this Ordinance is not subject to further review for the following reasons: (1) the Ordinance is exempt pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.17, which exempts the local adoption of ordinances regarding second units in single or multifamily residential zones; (2) the Ordinance is exempt under CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15301), which exempts projects involving the minor alteration of existing residences involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that already in existence; (3) it will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15060(c)(2)); (4) there is no possibility that the Ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15061(b)(3)); and (5) the Ordinance, by itself, does not constitute a “project” as defined in the CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15378). The Ordinance is for general policies and procedure-making. It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the Ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
Apart from the reallocation of staff resources needed to address this matter, there is no new financial impact.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council conduct a public hearing and introduce for first reading Ordinance No. O-24-1416. If the City Council agrees, an appropriate motion would be:
“I move to waive full reading and introduce by title only Ordinance No. O-24- 1416, an Ordinance of the San Marino City Council amending Municipal Code Sections 23.01.01 and 23.02.25 to implement State law regarding accessory dwelling units.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. August 26, 2024, HCD ADU Review Findings Letter
2. Draft Ordinance No. O-24-1416
3. Planning Commission Resolution No. PCR-24-12