Proposed Changes

The Santa Cruz City Council has been working in conjunction with Santa Cruz Planning Department to amend the current zoning laws. These changes, deemed the Accessory Dwelling Unit Development Program, are part of an effort to increase rentership in the greater Santa Cruz area.

Currently, many Accessory Dwelling Units (a secondary living space or structure on the same parcel of land as a home; e.g. a garage apartment, extra room, or detached suite) are improperly or illegally zoned. The current zoning ordinances, which have been criticized by contractors, city planners, and housing staff as restrictive, prevent many homeowners from renting out their spare rooms and structures.

The Santa Cruz Planning Commission, a volunteer-based group made up of three architects, a rental property manager, a green building consultant, an engineer, and a city planner, has proposed that the City Council reduce the minimum lot size required to contain an Accessory Dwelling Unit by ten-percent--from 5,000 ft. to 4,500 ft. Additionally, the Commission recommends to increase the maximum size of an Accessory Dwelling Unit to give more home owners the option to rent out any spare rooms or structures they might have--increasing the amount of spaces and structures that can be rented out!

The Effects

These changes will allow an additional 782 additional property owners to have an Accessory Dwelling Unit on their property; in turn, this would allow more property owners to generate supplemental income by renting; in turn, this will provide a more welcoming and friendly market for renters.

With an increase in available rental units, the price per rental unit will presumably decrease, while the overall demand would in turn increase. In effect, these changes would result in a simultaneous rise in the supply and demand for rentership; curtailed by the modesty of this round of zoning ordinance modifications.

Rules surrounding operations of The Santa Cruz Planning Commission, however, have stirred up discontent with the Commissioners charged to make the recommendations. The Commissioners are barred from contacting the Planning Department to ask for or challenge advice over a project in which they have some financial interest--a freedom that any other citizen enjoys.