City’s Housing Department Pushing New ADU Pilot Program

The Pasadena Housing Department is rolling out a new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) pilot program according to Housing Director William Huang.

The Pasadena Second Unit ADU Program is described as a new affordable housing initiative that incentivizes homeowners to create an affordable rental unit on their property.

The program offers homeowners comprehensive assistance for financing, designing, permitting, and constructing a new ADU in the City of Pasadena.  Specifically, the program provides financial assistance to build an ADU through new construction or garage conversion.

An ADU — also known as a ‘granny flat’ — is a “secondary housing unit on a single-family residential lot.”

Assistance is also available to rehabilitate and bring up to code an existing unpermitted granny flat or illegal garage conversion.

“There were two reasons for the program,” according to Huang.  “To encourage the production of ADUs for affordable housing, hence, the Section 8 requirement for new ADUs financed by the program [and] to eliminate the life safety risks in existing unpermitted ADUs.”

New laws allow owners of single-family homes to build two additional units on their lots, in some cases within four feet of the property line.

ADUs were a major part of the local primary election, while many mayoral and City Council candidates supported laws easing restriction on ADUs and saw the additional units as possible affordable housing, incumbents expressed concerns over the batch of laws signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom softening city powers to control housing ordinances as problematic.

Since April 2018, the city has received 142 applications for ADUs, 35 permits have been issued, 74 applications are currently being reviewed. Four additional applications have been approved and can advance after the applicants complete the permit process. In addition, 20 projects have been inspected and completed, and nine permits have been canceled.

Construction of ADUs has increased significantly in California in recent years.

From 2018 to 2019, permits skyrocketed from almost

6,000 to nearly16,000, according to a study by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation.

During that same period, ADU completions more than tripled from 2,000 to almost 7,000 in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Bay Area. ,

There is some regional variation. In particular, ADU development in Los Angeles is more likely in low resource areas. Other areas of the state with high home value and rents are also experiencing meaningful increases in ADU development.

A zoom session will be held at noon on Sept. 16 and at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. at www.bit.ly/PasadenaADU.

Applications will be accepted from Oct. 1 to Oct. 30.