Make Room for Granny – Really?

Nearing the end of the legislative session, a hearing is scheduled tomorrow in Sacramento for Senate Bill 1069, authorizing home additions commonly known as “granny units.”

With few partners, the Culver City Chamber of Commerce has taken a lonely stand against the cinch-to-pass bill on the grounds of potential abuse.

The concern is granny units will lead to new problems, said Steve Rose, Chamber president and CEO.

He foresees additions to single- and multi-family residences, ostensibly to accommodate grandma or other family members, soon morphing into rental units. Think air b’n b.

This, says Mr. Rose, soon would worsen Culver City’s already critical parking problems.

“If the bill passes,” he said, “I presume it would vacate Culver City’s ordinance that would eliminate parking restrictions.

“The Chamber’s issue is that once a granny unit is built, it could used for rentals, not just air b ‘n b. A property owner could rent out on a monthly basis.

“Residents already are complaining about parking,” Mr. Rose said. “This would only add to the parking problems in residential zones.”

The prospective new law reads: “The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to regulate, among other things, the intensity of land use, and also authorizes a local agency to provide by ordinance for the creation of second units in single-family and multifamily residential zones, as specified. That law makes findings and declarations with respect to the value of second units to California’s housing supply.”

Support for S.B. 1-69 is broad, stretching from the California Chamber of Commerce to labor unions to the California Apartmemt Owners Assn.

Opposition is light, in Mr. Rose’s opinion, “because this is deemed as a way of curing California’s overall housing shortage. We are looking at this holistically – that it will take away open space, people’s yards.”