Granny Flats Apocalypse

Are considering a Granny Flat? Converting the garage or modifying the interior of your house for your elderly parents? You may be surprised at the frenzy this stirs up. There is an air of elitism and dare I say racism about the latest attempts to deride Granny Flats and restrict the options of homeowners.

Under state law AB 1866 (2003) there are very lenient guidelines for “Granny Flats” (technically Accessory Dwelling Units or ADU’s) – summary here (pdf - see page 12). This law was designed to help relieve the housing crisis in places like LA. Eric Garcetti, Paul Koretz and other City Council members recently asked the Planning Dept to “study and report back in regard to the legalization of previously unpermitted converted units.” Sounds like a good idea. That might mean legalizing a lot of those (illegal) garage conversions around Encino and that thought has made the heads of many conservative activists come right off. Blogger Ron Kaye announced “The wolves are against our doors” and Gerald Silver of Homeowners of Encino declared “We oppose ADU, granny flat, secondary dwelling unit, elder cottage, mother-daughter residence, apartment located within the walls of a single-family home, an addition to an existing house, or any free-standing structure on single-family residential lots.”  All of it…

After this uproar, the Planning Department understandably threw up their hands and a granny flat ordinance is now on indefinite hold… Which means we default to the lenient state law since that’s obviously preferable to battling the activists and possibly ending up with a more restrictive ordinance.

So what is going on here? This fiasco proved once again that while activists cast this as a middle-class issue, it’s not. It’s rich and comfortable people who want to keep local population density down and the riff-raff out. Maybe they already have their own granny flats? I think granny flats are a great idea and one which I considered some years ago for my ailing parents-in-law. Others use them for making some extra money renting to students or to the disabled or for in-home health care providers and perhaps the City Council can make some money out of this too – and why not?

If you are indeed considering a Granny Flat, there is some ambiguity about the minimum lot size when they can be permitted. I have read that “currently, the city’s Interim Guidelines require at least 7,500 square feet of land” but Gabriella Jaurez, Department of City Planning, is quoted as saying “The state law says that any residential lot (R-1) to be ministerially considered is 5000 square feet.” So I’m not sure. But in the pdf linked to above, it allows that homeowners can build granny flats as long as the unit is not intended for sale (it may be rented); the lot already contains a family home; the granny unit is either attached to the house (in which case it cannot exceed 30 percent of that home), or, if detached, is on the same lot; a granny flat does not exceed 1,200 square feet; and city restrictions are followed on height, setback, lot coverage, architectural review, adequate water and sewer services – in other words, building codes approval. There’s more but any reputable contractor can fill you in on what’s feasible.

For some extra reading, check out this article about an exciting approach to this issue taken by the city of Vancouver.