From:
To: Mary Gourley
Subject: Planning Commission Workplan Update for 12/19/23 City Council Meeting Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2023 11:57:52 AM
Dear Mayor, Vice-Mayor, City Council Members and Staff, I am writing to support the inclusion of Tiny Homes as ADUs in the Planning Commission Workplan Update presented to the City Council on 12/19/2023. The Housing Element Implementation - Other listed as priority five includes a reference to "Tiny homes for ADUs?".
I assume that the question mark is referring to the issue of can tiny homes be counted as ADUs and thus counted toward the RHNA numbers requirement.
This question has been answered by a July 7th, 2022 analysis by David Carlson, Resource Planner, Policy Division for the County of Santa Cruz:
“Tiny houses on wheels (THOWs) can count toward the County’s Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) under certain circumstances. The THOW must be permitted by the local jurisdiction; meet the census definition of a housing unit (ADUs meet the definition); must have new hookups to services and utilities and other features to demonstrate a sense of permanence; and the local jurisdiction must monitor the THOWs to ensure the unit hasn’t been moved to another location.”
Many California jurisdictions have adopted or are moving towards adoption of standards allowing THOWs.
How would Sebastopol benefit from allowing THOWs?
Lower cost rental units.
Opportunity for lower cost home ownership.
Help meet RHNA numbers for the "missing middle"
There are many examples of other cities that have modified their code to allow THOWs with Santa Cruz be one of the better examples. Sebastopol would not be starting from scratch in this process.
The Sebastopol Planning Commission has quite a bit of work planned in this update. Adopting tiny homes as ADUs, specifically allowing THOWs, is probably the most impactful and achievable item listed in the Workplan Update. I encourage the City Council to adopt this Workplan Update and to specifically include (without the question mark) "Tiny Homes as ADUs".
Thank You
Steve Pierce