April 21, 2005

San Jose City Council to consider secondary units May 3

City staff recommends pilot program to allow dwellings in restricted areas

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

The heated argument over secondary units is headed before the San Jose City Council May 3 and Almaden residents are going to continue expressing their opposition to the city as it considers ways to increase affordable housing.

The council is expected to receive a staff report from city housing and planning officials who will recommend the council consider either continuing to preclude the controversial dwellings, prepare an ordinance with specific parameters to allow them or begin a temporary pilot program in only certain sections of the city were lots are big enough to accommodate them without adversely impacting the character of neighborhoods.

A pilot program would probably run between 12 and 24 months and would take into consideration much of the feedback received by city planners during the public outreach process which included 24 meetings held last summer in the city’s 10 districts.

It would also probably be geographically confined only allowing the units in certain sections of the city, where the majority of lots are above 6,000 square feet. City staff will have to do research after the council approves the program to give exact parameters for the program.

“We would like direction from the council to consider such a program,” said San Jose’s Chief planner Stephen M. Haase.

If the pilot program is approved, Haase explained, the council could impose strict rules for their building, such as requiring the unit size be 650 square feet, have a maximum of one bedroom, have one additional parking space, require the design criteria insure neighborhood compatibility and that they be attached to the primary structure.

Seattle ran a pilot program three years ago on the controversial units allowing only attached secondary units, which guaranteed the dwellings were architecturally integrated and not exceed the existing zoning conditions, Haase said.

“We would look at where we have adequate infrastructure to support the units, such as neighborhoods that have adequate parks and libraries rather than neighborhoods that don’t. One of the main concerns is overburdening the public infrastructure,” Haase said.

San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle is investigating how the pilot program would affect the city’s 1984 prohibition on the units. City planners said the ban would probably remain in place throughout the city, except in the geographic areas or city districts where the program is allowed.

San Jose, the only jurisdiction that does not have a secondary unit ordinance in Santa Clara County, is being strongly encouraged by state lawmakers to adopt a resolution on the issue.

Banned by the city more than 20 years ago based on the idea that tens of thousands of secondary units would be built, the issue came before the council in April of 2004 because of passage of the 2002 secondary units law contained in Assembly Bill 1866, sponsored by Assemblyman Roderick Wright and signed by former California Gov. Gray Davis. The law mandates cities to review their policies on secondary units.

City planners say the strongest opposition to the units came from District 10 Almaden Valley residents, and that community meetings held throughout the city last year revealed a balanced feedback from the community on the dwellings.

Housing experts argue the units could help alleviate the affordable housing crunch in the Bay Area while at the same time give property owners extra cash to pay for expensive mortgages or the flexibility to care for a frail senior in the comfort of the proximity of their home.

“There were those who supported it and those who were against it,” Haase said.

San Jose has built nearly three times the amount of affordable housing as the next closest city, San Diego, due to past significant funding contributions from the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.

From 1998-99 to 2003-04, San Jose built 4,745 affordable dwellings compared to the 1,861 affordable housing units San Diego built during the same time period.

Future funding for affordable housing, however, is not certain, given the significant decrease in redevelopment tax increment funds. As a result, it is likely that the city will not experience a high amount of affordable housing in the coming years and that alternative tools and programs will be needed to fill the need for affordable housing development.

The primary concerns regarding secondary units were related to the potential change in the character of residential neighborhoods and the impact on property values, parking, increased demand on existing parkland and the lack of a strategy to bring existing illegal units into compliance.

San Jose’s Housing Director Leslye Corsiglia said secondary units provide one source of affordable housing, but are in no means an answer to the affordable housing problem faced by the city.

“The city is serious in its efforts to provide housing opportunities for all of its residents and is focusing a great deal of effort and financial resources on meeting the housing needs of lower-income households. As part of this effort, we are looking at a number of ways to increase the number of affordable housing units in the city, including allowing for the development of new secondary units,” she said.

Corsiglia believes the pilot program will allow city officials to evaluate the impacts of the addition of new secondary units in a neighborhood so that they can effectively respond to concerns raised by residents.

“A pilot program will also help us determine the interest level residents have in developing new secondary units. We believe that, on an annual basis, we will receive only a handful of applications. A pilot program will help determine if the demand is low or if it is greater than anticipated. This will help us to determine workload levels for city staff,” Corsiglia added.

As for measuring the program’s success, Corsiglia said, “building one new unit that houses one lower-income person is a success in an area where only a small fraction of the population can afford to buy a new home and a significant number of families pay too much for housing.”

Of the 86,031 parcels that could be eligible for the units citywide, Almaden Valley has 11,997 parcels, or 13.9 percent, following District 9, which has 16,260 parcels, or 18.9 percent. The two districts are followed by districts one and six, which have 11,833 and 10,681 parcels, respectively.

There are 2,700 illegal detached secondary units in the city’s Strong Neighborhood Initiative areas, or one third of the city, and only less than 500 legal secondary units. Code enforcement is waiting to take action against such units until the council adopts an ordinance.

Cities that have allowed second units such as Santa Clara, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino, have created very few. In Santa Cruz, for example, which has the smallest lot size requirement, about seven per year have been built and in San Diego, which has the largest lot size requirements, one a year has been built.

The San Jose City Council will review the secondary unit issue at its May 3 meeting at 7 p.m. at City Hall’s council chambers, 801 No. First St., San Jose, Calif., 95110. To view the meeting agenda, log on to www.sanjoseca.gov or for more information call (408) 277-4000.