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REPORT <br />To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From the City Manager <br /> <br />March 27, 2017 <br /> <br />SUBJECT <br />Approval of Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance Update and Related Consistency <br />Amendments to Parking, Accessory Building, Nonconforming Parking, Driveway, <br />Nuisance, and Water Main sections. <br /> <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />1) Hold a public hearing, 2) Waive First Reading and Introduce Zoning Ordinance <br />amendments to the Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance to comply with State law, create <br />further flexibility and encourage legal creation of units with related Zoning Ordinance <br />amendments, and 3) Waive First Reading and Introduce related City Code amendments <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br />On October 26, 2015, the City Council amended the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) <br />regulations, easing restrictions and encouraging the creation of more accessory <br />dwelling units in residentially zoned areas of the City. These amendments were in <br />response to the affordable housing shortage and the longstanding difficulty in creating <br />accessory dwelling units under the original ordinance. The ADU ordinance is an <br />important tool that can address affordable housing issues and support multi- <br />generational living. ADUs create more options for increasing affordable housing stock in <br />existing residential areas while preserving neighborhood character. <br /> <br />In September 2016, the State passed two new bills requiring cities to further ease <br />restrictions on ADUs. These new rules limit the ability of cities to require additional <br />parking, allow garage conversions by right, and control when fire sprinklers and water <br />meter connections are required (and when they are not). Additional provisions also <br />apply and a summary from the California Department of Housing and Community <br />Development (HCD) is provided as Attachment 1. Most importantly, the State requires <br />cities to amend their ordinance to comply with these provisions, otherwise the local ADU <br />ordinance is invalid. <br /> <br />The Planning Commission considered this item at their meeting of February 21, 2017. <br />After receiving public testimony and discussing aspects of the proposed ordinance and <br />state law, the Commission recommended approval of the Zoning Ordinance <br />amendments with additional changes as noted below. The proposed City Code <br />amendments were not provided for the Planning Commission, as that is outside their <br />purview. The proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments are shown in Attachment 2, and <br />the proposed City Code amendments are shown in Attachment 3. <br />8.B. - Page 1