Planning for Second Units

Assembly Bill 1866 (Wright), passed during the 2001-2002 legislative session, will go into effect on July 1, 2003 making the approval of second units a ministerial process rather than the discretionary process currently used by most jurisdictions. As a result, existing requirements for discretionary review and public hearings on the approval of second units permits will be in vioation of State law. Cities and counties will need to review their second unit ordinances for compliance to the new law and make amendments as necessary.

To assist cities and counties in implementing this new law, the Regional Planning Committee of the Association of Bay Area Governments held a Planning for Second Units Forum on March 28, 2003. This half-day workshop examined the legal implications and the how-to of building this housing type.

Panelist materials from the March 28th forum:

• Betsy Strauss (127K PDF) - A paper that reviews the legislative history of second units, the courts' interpretation of California Government Code Section 65852.2, and the changes brought by AB 1866. The paper concludes with a set of issues left unanswered by AB 1866.
  
  
• Wayne Goldberg (3MB PDF) - Staff reports for the City of Santa Rosa Planning Commission that include Government Code Section 65852.2, the existing second dwelling unit zoning code, the proposed second dwelling unit zoning code, a draft Declaration of Restrictions, several public comment letters, and the final draft of the second dwelling unit zoning code.
  
  
• Alan Strachan (73K PDF) - Handout on the economics of including second units in new subdivisions as a way to significantly expand the availability of housing affordable to moderate income buyers, as well as very-low and low income renters.
  
  
• Betty Pagett (152K PDF) - A strategy paper by the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) that provides the "six steps" needed to get local government approvals for affordable housing.

Legislation and Government Code:

• Department of Housing and Community Development - AB 1866 technical paper (511K PDF)
  
  
• AB 1866 - Chaptered (29K PDF)
  
  
• California Government Code §65852.2 (47K PDF)

Examples of draft and adopted ordinances from Bay Area jurisdictions:

• Livermore Ordinance (65K PDF) - Draft ordinance approved by the City Council on May 5, 2003 as final.



• Santa Rosa Final Draft Ordinance (258K PDF) - Excerpted from the Wayne Goldberg panelist materials above. The Santa Rosa City Council has yet to take action on this ordinance.

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