Following months of outrage, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was asked by the city council to amend the ADU program, reports NBC 7’s Joey Safchik.
Mrs. Armstrong, as she is known in her neighborhood, has called Emerald Hills home for nearly six decades, but, she said, the face of her beloved community is changing as accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, spring up.
“It's causing a decline in our community," Armstrong said. "It definitely will impact our community with the overbuilding."
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WATCH HERECurrently, the city of San Diego's ADU Density Bonus Program permits ADUs to have more than four units, as long as some are affordable. The policy has been a trademark of Mayor Todd Gloria's housing strategy.
Following months of outrage, however, Gloria was asked by the city council to amend the program.
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SIGN UP Among the proposed changes: parking requirements outside Transit Priority Areas and increased fire safety precautions, which would require setbacks of at least five feet in high-risk areas, giving firefighters more defensible space during an emergency. Limits are also being proposed on where ADUs can be built. Per the mayor's proposal, parts of La Jolla, College Area and Encanto would now be excluded from the density program because of their zoning.
Regarding parking, the proposal would require the creation of one off-street parking space for each affordable ADU unit and bonus ADU home built outside of so-called Transit Priority Areas, which are located within a half-mile of a major public transit stop (or one that is planned). State law prevents the city from requiring parking to be built at ADUs in Transit Priority Areas.
The changes would also square ADU size regulations with state law. New ADUs would still have a 1,200-square-foot maximum, while ADUs created by converting existing space would not have a size limit.
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On Thursday, the planning commission took up those changes, pushing them forward to the Land Use & Housing Committee.
“These amendments will help us create more housing opportunities for San Diegans while ensuring that new development is consistent with the scale and character of San Diego’s neighborhoods,” wrote Planning Director Heidi Vonblum in a statement after Thursday's vote.
Emerald Hills resident Martha Abraham feels the amendments do not go far enough.
“It really feels like in the name of the housing crisis, we're bearing the brunt of the burden of solving this issue,” said Abraham.
ADU proponent Colin Parent, the CEO of Circulate San Diego, hopes future reforms focus on expanding opportunities for people to build one or two ADUs.
“Let's also make sure that we're making it easier for regular homeowners who want to do the sort of ordinary types of ADUs that are not controversial and should be embraced and encouraged,” Parent said. “We really do need to make it easier for people to build the one-off ADU, the small ADU project, and that that can be can and should be part of our housing production.”
If the proposed changes pass in the Land Use & Housing Committee, the legislation would then proceed to a vote by the full city council.
