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6.C. - Page 21 of 29 <br />Second Unit; <br />o creates online tools, handouts and information, including a Second Unit Universal <br />Checklist which offers step-by-step guidance; and, <br />o helped produce a YouTube video tutorial on how to build a Second Unit in San Jose. <br />An official from San Jose informed the Grand Jury that the resources created by this department <br />would be available for use during the San Mateo County Second Unit effort. <br />Home for All San Mateo held a summit in February 2020, at which the ADU Ally delivered a <br />featured presentation. While this dedicated specialist seems to be making an impact, only time <br />and hard data will tell.42 <br />Step Three: Amnesty for Non -Permitted Second Units <br />There are thought to be a large but unidentified number43 of non -permitted Second Units in San <br />Mateo County. In order to successfully increase the number of housing units countywide, it is <br />critical that these Second Units be upgraded to comply with applicable health and safety codes <br />and maintained as viable housing units. The new State laws make it easier for those units to be <br />made safer by providing amnesty to the homeowners who built these non -permitted units and <br />encouraging them to bring their units up to permitting standards. <br />If the County pilot program for homeowners who wish to obtain permits for their non -permitted <br />Second Units44 is successful, it will have the potential to be expanded and marketed as a model <br />program that cities throughout the County could modify and/or adopt for their own use. This <br />action by the cities would help preserve these critical housing units. Interestingly, in the Grand <br />Jury's December 2019 survey, only Belmont referred to amnesty. New construction appears to <br />be a higher priority for most cities. <br />The City of East Palo Alto and nonprofits such as Rebuilding Together Peninsula45 are also <br />focused on developing other plans that would make non -permitted Second Units safer and <br />ultimately permitted. <br />Barriers to Building or Upgrading Second Units: <br />While state law has been amended to make Second Units easier to develop, based on Grand Jury <br />interviews with housing advocates, it is clear that there are still significant barriers that hinder <br />and sometimes block homeowners from adding Second Units. For example, those barriers <br />include: <br />42 Grand Jury interview. See more in Appendix D <br />43 Grand Jury Interview. <br />44 SMC Second Unit Amnesty Website: htt sill Tannin .smcgov.or■ second-unit-amnes <br />45 RebuildingTogetherPeninsula is a non-profit that is focused on working with other focal agencies to upgrade non - <br />permitted second units in East Palo Alto. It has a focus on repairs of garage -conversions, not new construction. <br />littps:Ilsitcs.go�s lcc�m,'rebuildin �to�rether eninszila,or le pa-adu-initiative/home <br />2019-2020 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury 11 <br />146 <br />