The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved updates to the county’s accessory dwelling unit ordinance to comply with recent changes in state law designed to increase California’s affordable housing supply.
The new state laws give cities, towns and counties less input in what they can require of applicants wanting to build accessory units, also commonly called “mother-in-law units.”
Local governments around the Bay Area have for months been updating such ordinances to conform to the new state laws.
County Supervisor Candace Andersen said making it easier to make such conversions is “a great way to develop more affordable housing.”
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills intended to increase the state’s supply of affordable housing. Accessory dwelling units are one part of the state’s ideal formula for providing more housing.
The new laws took effect Jan. 1, and cities and counties all over California have been moving to adjust local ordinances.
The new laws mandate that cities and counties process applications for ADUs and junior ADUs “ministerially,” without discretionary staff review or public hearing for community comment.
The Contra Costa supervisors’ action Tuesday applies only to unincorporated areas, and not the cities within the county.
The hell with ADUs, I just going to put up a bunch of tents and rent them out.
Someone told me that CCWD wanted $20,000 for a water hook-up for a mother-in-law unit. All of these ‘other’ fees drive up costs. Unfortunately, all sorts of agencies want to stick their ‘hands’ in your ‘pocket’. And then people wonder why housing is so expensive.
We paid more than that for ours on Concord. I know a few people who are waiting for this to go down. Maybe the new laws do not make you have a separate line and will allow you to connect to main house, if your ADU is not attached.
Its $35,000. I just paid it a few months ago.
There’s already no parking available on my street. Just wait until every house has another family living in the backyard.
No surprises there 🙁
How’s that going to work out with the 2022 55 gallon of water per person per day…..
Oh no, how will this effect global warming…err climate change? With more housing comes more people and with that more CO2. Does this mean we only have 8 more years till the end of the world?
We can only hope
I certainly hope we don’t have to suffer through 8 more years of AOC! That would be WORSE than the end of the world.