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85-& of those inspected had life safety concerns. Staff then conducted a search of assessor files, building permit records, and ordinance violations for these properties to provide the information that is displayed in Attachment #2. The conversions are located Citywide, with the exception of Redwood Shores. c. Public Policv Issues of GaraGe Conversions. Similar to the issues related to illegal units, the following impacts can occur: . health and safety. . increased parking on the street. . increased parking on-site. . change in neighborhood character. . loss of covered parking. Construction of garages for the primary purpose of providing off-street parking have been the norm for the vast majority of all houses built in Redwood City. Garages provide the opportunity for cars to be parked off the street and out of the front set-back. Garage conversions are not permitted without benefit of building permits. Building permits are universally required throughout the country to help ensure that construction provides for the health and safety of residents. Further, most contractors are required by their license to obtain building permits for the work they perform. When conversions occur without permits and inspections, there are no assurances that the living area is safe. The other issue is the loss of parking that results from garage conversions. The City ordinances requiré on-site covered parking for all residential construction including senior and affordable housing. A building permit for a garage conversion could only be allowed if on-site covered parking could be provided elsewhere on-site. In some circumstances, a variance to the parking requirement could be sought. However, a variance can only be granted due to circumstances related to the land not the circumstances of the property owner. Thus, if a proposal for a garage conversion leaves no opportunity for the creation of new parking and living space could be added to the house without a garage conversion, findings for granting a variance would be difficult to make. Priorities for enforcement of garage conversions mirror the Council's interest to address health and safety issues. For example, a garage conversion to sleeping quarters would receive a high level of scrutiny to assure the health and safety of the occupant. The loss of covered parking that results from the garage conversion would be enforced as a zoning violation. d. Other Cities. The enforcement techniques used by San Carlos and Daly City, in the case of garage conversions which are illegal second units, is described on pages 3-4 of this report. Like San Carlos and Daly City, the cities of Menlo Park and San Mateo require removal of the illegal garage conversion. The enforcement profile in Palo Alto and Mountain View is case by case. When the garage conversion is for living space, cities take various approaches depending on their proactive/reactive code enforcement emphasis. Almost universally, cities require on-site parking. The number of spaces required may vary: one or two per unit. The requirement for covered or uncovered parking may also vary. Some cities allow tandem parking, others do not. The requirement to seek a variance from zoning codes is also universal. In fact the basis of the variance process and the findings for a variance are contained in State enabling law. -6- . '~"-'-""'-'-1r .