WATER DISTRICT VOTES TO WAIVE FEES FOR ADUS

Ramona Municipal Water District directors earlier this month voted to waive capacity fees for accessory dwelling units (ADU), also known as granny flats.

Director Jim Hickle said waiving the fees for ADUS encourages the addition of more affordable homes in the 800-square-foot to 1,200-square-foot range in Ramona.

Capacity fees are charged by the water district when homes connect to the district’s water and sewer systems.

The fees for a typical singlefamily home are roughly $11,000 for water and $16,000 for sewer.

Those fees formerly increased by a range of $8,000 to as much as $22,000 when a new single-family home was accompanied by a studio ADU, one-bedroom ADU, two-bedroom ADU or two complete ADUS.

The water district did not charge capacity fees when new ADUS were added to an existing single-family home, but were charged when the ADUS were added simultaneously with a new single-family home.

Last year, only one project was charged for capacity fees when an ADU was added without an existing single-family home in Ramona, according to a staff report.

The majority of Ramona’s ADU projects, 19, were added to existing single-family homes and so were not charged capacity fees.

The directors voted 3-1 to waive the fee whether the ADU is added to an existing home or the ADU and home are built together.

Water District Director Gary Hurst opposed the waiver, saying the costs to connect ADUS to the water and sewer system will be shifted to existing residential and business customers.

“This imposes another subsidy, and it disproportionately affects businesses,” Hurst said. “I cannot support this.”