It’s well known that California is in the midst of a housing crisis that grows more severe all the time. For decades, we have seen too few homes built, and those that are built are too expensive. The poor and middle class suffer the most from the housing shortage, increasingly finding themselves priced out of homes and apartments located near good jobs and schools.
This problem has been well documented, so there is no excuse when our cities refuse to allow individuals to take steps to alleviate the housing shortage. Yet communities across California continue to oppose the simplest of housing reforms: allowing property owners to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, commonly known as “granny flats” or “in-law apartments.”
As far back as 1981, the state legislature recognized that the lack of developable land is one of the key obstacles to increasing housing supply. There is land available to build on in California cities, but zoning codes strictly limit the use of undeveloped land. To open up more capacity, California adopted a statewide law that legalized the production of ADUs.
It was a win-win solution. By legalizing ADUs, the state unlocked previously unusable land, resulting in a massive increase of potential housing. Owners could build a rental unit to help with their mortgage payments, or build a cottage where their parents could age in place. Better yet, the cost of an ADU is typically a fraction of a stand-alone house or apartment unit, resulting in the potential for new affordable housing.
Many cities, however, continued to resist this modest reform, even as the housing shortage reached critical mass. So the state pushed back again in 2016 and 2019, amending the law to require — rather than request — that cities allow ADU development as a right of ownership. The state law directs California cities to approve ADU permits that satisfy certain conditions, such as unit and lot size, without the lengthy and costly process typical of building permits.
Communities that implemented this law, such as Los Angeles and San Diego, have seen a surge in the production of new affordable housing. But still, the state’s ADU mandate wasn’t enough to convince many cities to take the plunge into granny flats.
In San Marino, for example, Cordelia Donnelly applied for a permit to build an ADU above her detached garage. Although her proposal met all of the state requirements, city officials still rejected it because, under the city’s strict standards, Donnelly’s lot was too small, her proposed ADU was too big (the same footprint as the garage), and her garage was too close to the house.
Donnelly has petitioned San Marino’s decision to the California Supreme Court, arguing that the city cannot adopt standards that ban exactly what the state allows by right. The court’s decision about whether to take her case will have significant implications for meaningful housing reform.
San Marino’s situation highlights one of the root causes of the housing crisis: needlessly restrictive zoning laws result in fewer homes being built, with those that are built carrying higher price tags. The word “needlessly” is intentional. The only justification for the city’s strict ADU rules is to protect established neighborhoods from change that could result from building more affordable homes. It is a policy of exclusion.
The exclusionary character of single-family zoning can be seen clearly in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. (1926), in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a zoning law that barred multi-family residences. The court concluded that apartments are a “parasite” because they “take advantage of the open spaces and attractive surroundings created by the residential character of the district.” Simply put, zoning excludes new people and opportunities from coming into the community. Such a policy has no place in modern society.
Donnelly’s case shows that reform often occurs at the fringes. While the ADU option will provide a limited number of homes for a limited number of people, their legalization has the potential to open the door to much broader reform that can spur housing production.
The state’s decision to streamline the permit approval process by recognizing a right to build ADUs on residential-zoned property has removed much of the cost, time and uncertainty that continues to drive up housing costs and rent. If California were to extend the same type of recognition to other types of homes, the state could potentially turn a modest reform into a housing revolution.
Pacific Legal Foundation article June 22, 2020 By BRIAN HODGES. This op-ed was originally published by The Hill on June 22, 2020.
RELATED CASES
Donnelly v. City of San Marino
May 19, 2020
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Kitsap Housing Supply is in Crisis
“Housing Affordability” vs. “Affordable Housing”
It’s not about “affordable housing,’·
It’s about housing people can afford to buy.
There’s a big difference.
What brought on the French ‘revolution?
Today in Kitsap County, 1 in 15 families are struggling with poverty due to extreme property regulation.
Kitsap County Commissioners have advised us of our critical housing shortage (Click here)
Discretionary income allows freedom of choice and liberty. Home ownership is the bedrock of personal dignity. High taxes and excessive regulation destroy and undermine both freedom of choice and personal dignity. Housing is typically a family’s largest discretionary income cost. As we learned in “Economics 101”, supply and demand determine prices. Reducing the cost of housing allows discretionary income to be spent elsewhere, creating jobs and tax revenue.
Kitsap County’s median home price is now $408,590, 77% above HUD’s affordability standard of $236,710 for a median income family. We see State and Local regulations now adding well over 50% to home prices.
Home construction has been impeded by Washington State’s Growth Management Act‘s restrictive regulations over the past twenty five years, resulting in our current housing shortage. For every 100 family units formed. only 42 homes are being constructed. Considering 1/3 of our residents are renters, 11,000 new rental units must be constructed by 2036. This lack of housing supply is the cause of our home and rental prices being out of sight.
County and State leadership have failed to create solutions. There is no apparent plan to increase the rate of housing construction. There appear to be no numerical goals and no measures of progress.
City of Bremerton & Kitsap County Affordable Housing Recommendations report, ECONorthwest, Final Report, March, 2020 (the “ECONorthwest paper”) rightly states adverse impacts of housing regulation can be alleviated by eliminating housing options through zoning. In Kitsap County, zoning has for years prohibited affordable “Missing Middle Housing”: duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, courtyard apartments cottage clustersand accessory dwelling units.
Kitsap County’s rate of housing construction must be increased by at least a factor of five or housing will become even more unaffordable. For construction to accelerate, the marketplace must be allowed to function. Local government must become an incentivized partner in construction of market-rate affordable housing, not an adversary.
The Rucklehouse Report showed the lack of affordable housing is a common complaint in all 39 Washington State counties. Only by rapidly expanding the quantity of buildable lots and unburdening developers from restrictive and expensive regulation will housing prices be reduced to affordable levels.
Washington State home prices are currently 86% above Housing and Urban Development’s definition of affordability.
Kitsap Alliance is well aware of the impacts of Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA) and environmental activism on housing availability. We are also aware of County and city long-term foot-dragging in creation of new and affordable building sites and zealously imposing zoning impediments and limitations. The usual bureaucratic response is “The State made us do it.”
Read the Full Housing Affordability vs Affordable Housing report.
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