City Council loosens rules for accessory dwelling units

CUPERTINO >> The City Council is working to follow the state’s lead in making it easier for people to create accessory dwelling units, also known as granny units.

Even as it does so, however, some housing activists are saying that’s not enough. They’re urging the city to move beyond state requirements to encourage the use of such units as a means to increase the city’s affordable housing supply.

During its Nov. 19 meeting, the council approved a measure that loosens zoning restrictions so owners of single-family houses can create self-contained accessory units within their homes in more areas of the city.

The measure also relaxes city requirements for additional parking in some cases.

The council’s action was a reaction to laws passed by the Legislature in October that mandate cities to amend their rules regarding accessory dwelling units so they’re consistent with the state’s or just follow the new state standards altogether, according to a staff report.

Council members were hesitant to just follow state standards, which allow larger accessory units than those permitted by Cupertino, according to Piu Ghosh, who wrote the staff report.

“The whole point of this is to have units that are affordable. The larger units might be more expensive, and the council was concerned about having larger units,” she said.

During the meeting, council members also expressed concerns about parking impacts and the possibility that some homeowners may use the accessory dwelling units for short-term rentals through services such as Airbnb, which wouldn’t do anything to ease the dearth of affordable housing.

Silicon Valley affordable housing advocacy group SV@Home has called on the city to exceed the state standards.

“Accessory dwelling units are a relatively easy way to add housing stock that doesn’t require any public subsidies,” said Pilar Lorenzana, the group’s deputy director.

“Cupertino is making the minimum changes that they have to make in order to comply with state law,” Lorenzana added. “It hasn’t adopted as meaningful a change as its neighbors have.”

In a letter addressed to the council dated Dec. 18, SV@ Home asked the city to consider loosening lot size requirements for accessory dwelling units, giving homeowners an opportunity to bring their property up to code without facing penalties, reducing fees associated with construction of the dwelling units, and creating a program that would provide guidance and resources to homeowners interested in creating new units.

At the meeting, Vice Mayor Rod Sinks directed the Housing Commission to examine the barrier that current permit fees pose to the creation of units.