The Dana Point Planning Commission made a series of recommendations to the City Council during its special meeting on Monday night, May 15, to discuss Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
After several residents spoke about their experiences working with the city to obtain permits for ADUs on their properties, the commission made recommendations aimed to ensure that the city is not putting up unnecessary barriers to the permitting process.
In a motion made by Commissioner Eric Nelson, which passed unanimously, the commission recommended that the council allow detached ADUs in single-family homes within a multi-family zone and consider reducing fees for site development permits related to ADUs.
Additional recommendations included discussing adjusting parking requirements to ensure that the city is not creating unnecessary barriers, as well as evaluating mechanical, plumbing and electrical requirements to ensure that ADUs are treated like any other development.
“Obviously there’s been confusion on our ordinance versus the state law, and I want to support creation of housing, addressing homelessness, getting less government interference when we have an opportunity for something like that,” Commissioner Luke Boughen said.
“I also want to balance our potential revisions tonight or recommendations with the idea that we do want to get this to council sooner rather than later at a certain level so that we can get an ordinance that’s out there for you all to deal with, rather than sitting in the revision process,” Boughen continued.
Planning Commission Chair Ashok Dhingra noted that he believed the city was “moving in the right direction to simplify the ministerial process, as well as ‘the discretionary’ process.”
The site development permit (SDP) process was intended to create more flexibility for the city, rather than denying ADU permits to any property that doesn’t meet city requirements, Dhingra said.
Residents including Scott Skinner—who has worked to permit an ADU at his Dana Point property but has been told that he would need to obtain an SDP because of his legal non-conforming garage—claim that the SDP process is an unnecessary barrier.
During the meeting, Boughen requested that the City Council look to decrease the SDP application fee for ADUs.
Dhingra commented that those looking to develop “need to face the music and march accordingly.”
“When you look at the cost of construction, where it has gone—and I recognize that everybody is suffering in the same way because of higher labor costs and higher material costs—and at times, people are saying there are supply chain issues on windows and what have you; those kinds of situations are beyond the control of any city or any jurisdiction,” Dhingra said.
Boughen rebutted that the SDP application fee is one aspect of development that the city can control.
“Respectfully, I think this is one item that we can control that isn’t inflation-related; that is our choice right now on which way we want to go in terms of putting up a costly barrier for folks to deal with or alternatively, having less government interference at a certain level,” Boughen said.
Additionally, having served as a Traffic Improvement Subcommittee member for the past eight years and working on the Parking and Circulation Task Force, Boughen requested that the City Council look to reduce parking-related barriers on ADUs.
Nelson added that he’s interested in loosening the requirements on ADUs.
“Housing is a huge issue in our town; it’s a huge issue in the state,” Nelson said. “The solution isn’t just jamming ordinances down cities’ throats, either, and that’s what some of the issues between HCD and the city and other cities are continually trying to wrestle with.”
“We barely get an opportunity to catch our breath, and then we have to update our zoning, and it’s impossible to keep up with the pace of our legislature right now,” Nelson continued.
With the ordinance update, Nelson added that the city has an opportunity to make ADUs “a little more attainable in our town.”
Boughen commented that the update can be an iterative process since state laws have continued to change on ADUs, giving the city a chance to make amendments to address parking and safety if those issues crop up.
The City Council is expected to consider the commission’s recommendations and discuss an amendment to its ADU ordinance during its June 6 meeting.
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