Santa Cruz County Seeks Input on Accessory Dwellings

From the County of Santa Cruz: With the Santa Cruz County community in the grips of a housing crisis, the County is interested in expanding access to affordable housing for residents.

Accessory Dwelling Units have the potential to help ease the housing shortage, and new State law makes the local ADU approval process easier. Subject to local rules ensuring that any new dwellings are appropriate for existing neighborhoods, the County wants to encourage property owners to consider ADUs.

In order to identify barriers to building ADUs and encourage candid feedback, the County has set up a free, confidential survey to gather information from owners, prospective owners and builders about their experiences. We would like to hear about the development and financing process, find out how ADUs are used by owners, how to create markets for low-income renters, what typical monthly rent is and more. We are also interested in hearing from anyone who considered, and then rejected, building an ADU.

Through March 15, ADU owners, prospective owners and builders are encouraged to take the confidential survey here. Feedback will help us create a program that addresses the housing crisis by removing unnecessary hurdles faced by housing providers.

Other comments can be submitted through the Planning Department’s new ADU website here. The site also shows examples of quality ADU housing the County wishes to pursue.

Sometimes called “Granny Units” or second units, ADUs are homes that can be built on existing residential lots as freestanding homes, over a garage or attached to the main house. ADUs have the potential to help ease the housing shortage by providing places to rent that are more affordable than a standard single-family home. ADUs may be quite small or up to 1200 square feet, depending on location and the size of the property.

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