Office of the Mayor
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
March 8, 2022
Honorable Rudy Salas
State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite 8220
Sacramento, California 95814
RE: Assembly Bill 916 – ADU: Bedroom Addition – SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Salas,
The City of Santa Rosa is pleased to support your AB 916 which is an instrumental step to addressing the state’s housing crisis by increasing the maximum allowable height of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to 18 feet. This bill would exempt from requiring a public hearing as a condition of adding space for additional bedrooms in an existing ADU.
Current state law authorizes ADUs to be constructed, but there is a height limit of 16 feet on the structure. AB 916 would increase the height limit to 18 feet, but only for lots that have existing multifamily and multistory structures. This change would allow more ADUs which are a major component in addressing the state’s housing crisis. In recent years, Santa Rosa has committed to supporting the construction of ADUs. In our city, ADUs are already allowed to go above 16 feet.
It is no secret that California is in a housing crisis. In 2015 the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that an aggregate of 3 million additional housing units were needed to fill the gap that was accumulated from 1980 to 2010. This crisis is paired with yet another crisis, COVID-19, that has shuttered the state and left thousands of Californians jobless and hurting.
One simple, effective, and cost-efficient way to tackle the housing shortage crisis facing our state is to add more bedrooms or by increasing ADU production through a streamlined process and increased ministerial approval. This will enable the creation of increased density in the least expensive form possible and hence increase the housing stock which will help bring down the cost of housing. We believe that these are the types of solutions that our state must consider in order to provide Californians the relief that they desperately need.
We are grateful for Assemblymember Salas’ willingness to tackle such an important issue that will benefit California residents. For these reasons, the City of Santa Rosa supports AB 916
Office of the Mayor
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
(Salas). Should you have any questions please contact our legislative advocate, Sharon Gonsalves, with the Renne Public Policy Group, at (916) 974-9270.
Sincerely,
Chris Rogers, Mayor
CC: Senator Mike McGuire
Assemblymember Jim Wood
Assemblymember Marc Levine