2013-2014: EPA Secondary Unit Study Sessions & Ordinance
2016: Code Enforcement & Displacement as a community crisis
65+ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) were red-tagged
Community Benefits Partnership with Facebook (12/16/2016)
2017: Second Unit Task Force formed by City Council
2018: Rebuilding Together Peninsula created a Garage Conversions Working Group
Converting a garage or adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to house friends or families is a common response to the affordable housing crisis in our low-income communities. Unfortunately, these housing units are typically unpermitted and vulnerable to being red-tagged by code enforcement. Balancing the health and safety risks of living in unpermitted units, with the very real negative health impact of potential homelessness or displacement on vulnerable residents, is a tricky situation for everyone involved - the homeowner, the tenant, and the city. This project comes from the community-led charge to provide the knowledge, tools and resources necessary to help low-income homeowners understand the complexities, benefits, and options for bringing their current garage conversion or ADU into compliance, and/or to help them to plan for a new unit.
Read profiles of the four homeowners involved and learn more about our Lessons Learned.
A code enforcement violation could be triggered by a call from a tenant, a neighbor, or even someone who helped build the unit. Illegal units may put occupants, the property, and surrounding properties at risk. For instance, adding onto a home without upgrading the electrical or plumbing systems may overload the systems and cause them to malfunction and/or create fire hazards.
Understanding your options:
Garage Conversion
Junior ADU
Attached ADU
Detached ADU
Because of resources they may already have invested into their existing property, the additional work required to bring their homes up to current building codes may appear wasteful or unnecessary, and often the cost, time, and changes to their existing design create further confusion and concern.
The process is time intensive
Involves coordination with multiple departments and jurisdictions
Varying requirements with own internal timelines and review processes
Costs can quickly grow:
Difficult to stay focused only on garage conversion since legalization may trigger code compliance for other areas of the house as well
Title 24 upgrades trigger other related upgrades
Unforeseen structural issues (challenge of renovation vs. building new)
Demolition of a structure > 100 SF requires a Demo Permit from the Building Department, which includes needing a Demolition Site Plan, four (4) sets (minimum 11x17 size); a digital copy is required and may be submitted in lieu of the physical copy of the plans. You are also required to file for a J-Permit through the BAAQMD. Typically the permit alone requires 10-day notice and is $90 or $700 for the permits to be processed in 3 days. These are needed even if you don't believe any asbestos is in the home, and you may need to hire an asbestos testing company as part of the permit application (additional cost).
As work moves forward, unforeseen structural issues can arise. This is a challenge of renovating older buildings vs. building a new ADU.
Low-income homeowners face a double whammy in trying to pay for these costs as they do not typically have access to the necessary capital to pay for these conversions, they may have poor credit options, and often they were housing family or friends who need affordable housing so the income potential on the converted units remains below market.
Know the questions/info people will need to know ahead of time:
Code Enforcement/Inspections
This is information used by Code Enforcement about the types of codes referenced that can lead to a code enforcement violation, including the unsafe or emergency situations that may warrant a yellow or red card.:
Planning/Building Review
Title 24
Architects/Designers
Structural Engineer
Soil Engineer
Contractor
Subcontractors: plumbing, electrical, etc.
Insurance
Utilities
Further exploration needed:
Storage units and other building uses
RV utilities, storage, and/or use
Deed restrictions and affordability restrictions in general, including monitoring/enforcement by cities/funders
ADU owners being good landlords
Coalition of nonprofit / other resource support moving forward
Tenant/Landlord Responsibilities/Relations and Anti-Displacement Resources, including Outsourcing Property Management, Master Leasing, Home Sharing, etc.
Temporary utilities for the main house that may otherwise be disrupted during construction.
Flood plain issues and considerations
Construction management support to help navigate through thee process
Financing options for low-income homeowners
Workforce development - access to affordable, well-qualified and well-informed architects, designers, contractors, and city officials to work with through this entire process