The conversation surrounding accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or granny flats, is heating up once again after the San Diego City Council approved Mayor Todd Gloria's Homes For All of Us housing package Tuesday night.
Neighbors all over San Diego are split on the issue -- one side fighting to protect neighborhood character and the other looking for more housing options and cheaper rents.
In the College Area, neighbors are upset that two homes were bought on their neighborhood for the purpose of building accessory dwelling units (ADU's, or better known as granny flats) on the properties.
Although people in the neighborhood say they're not opposed to affordable housing, they want to see a more reasonable approach to development that doesn't infringe on their privacy and keeps the character of the community
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During his 23-years of living on 69th Street, Eric Rosenzweig raised a family and built relationships with his College Area East neighbors.
"When I added on, I talked to my neighbors, had a conversation with my neighbors," Rosenzweig explained.
But he says there've been no such conversations with his new neighbors who bought the property right behind his house where three two-story ADUs are in the works, according to city plans. Another multi-unit development is planned on a property almost directly in front of his house.
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"I have no problem with people adding ADUs," Rosenzweig said. "What I have a problem with is building apartment complexes, calling them ADUs and not treating them like what they are, which are apartment complexes."
Rosenzweig was among the dozen-plus people who spoke against the ADU portion of Gloria's package. It features amendments to city development regulations to speed housing production in an effort to make it more affordable.
Rosenzweig said it's had an opposite effect for some people like his daughter who's had to move out of state to someplace more affordable.
"I'm as capitalist as the next guy, I get that. but what's frustrating is it takes houses off market. So even if my son-in-law and daughter wanted to buy a house here, they've taken two single-family homes off market," he said.
On the other side, people like Angeli Calinog say more ADUs mean more supply, and more supply means cheaper prices.
"The bigger issue is that there's not enough supply in San Diego. That's why the cost is so high. If there is more supply, more ADUs, more apartments to rent, condos to buy, prices would go down," she said.
As a member of the Yes In My Backyard Democrats and a policy advisor for the Chamber of Commerce, Calinog says ADUs present millennials such as herself a glimmer of hope for homeownership.
"If there are more ADUs out there, that's great ... cheaper option to rent and save
until I can afford a home of my own," Calinog said.
A second housing action package will begin to move through city leadership soon. It will include an opt-in to Senate Bill 10, which will make it easier to build apartments close to mass transit.
