Half Moon Bay has passed an ordinance modifying part of its ADU regulations concerning parking around the coastal area in the city’s western neighborhoods to conform to state laws.
Jill Ekas
The changes approved at an April 19 City Council meeting are being made to a previously passed August 2021 ADU ordinance. New state legislation for ADU laws has necessitated the need for further revisions. The California Coastal Commission, a state agency with judicial control of land along the coast, certified the ordinance Feb. 11 with modifications. It cited the need to maintain public street parking in coastal access areas in portions of its western neighborhoods. Under the amendments, new single-family home developers will no longer receive reduced parking requirements for ADUs in specific western neighborhoods. ADU parking requirements for historic resource properties in western neighborhoods must also require stricter, more detailed findings. ADUs are typically detached units that provide independent living spaces and are often used for older family members or young adults fresh out of school, adding additional income or maximizing unused space.
Half Moon Bay has said these changes will only affect a limited number of properties. Few houses contain historic resources or already have enough parking.
“These are really narrow changes. In the staff’s opinion, it probably will affect just a handful of properties over time. I’m not aware of any applications in the last few years that would have had anything different about them relative to these two tweaks,” Community Development Director Jill Ekas said.
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Other aspects of the 2021 ordinance remain intact, like requiring applicants to obtain a coastal development permit for some types of ADUs, requiring Measure D certificates for ADU, and not permitting ADUs in open space reserves. Measure D is a 1999 voter-approved measure limiting residential growth in the city that affects the ADU application process. There are a limited number of Measure D allocations for ADUs, with three allocation areas, downtown base, downtown bonus, and outside downtown.
As part of the approved ordinance, the city will start charging a Measure D fee for applications. City staff cited the inordinate amount of time it takes to process applications, with Half Moon Bay seeing a significant increase in applications for Measure D allocations for ADUs. Before 2018, the city only processed about three ADUs per year. However, in 2020, there were 23 applications for Measure D allocations for ADUs, with the city approving all of them. In 2021, there were 30, and the city approved 28, Ekas said. However, these approvals were only for ADUs and JADUs with existing single-family homes. Half Moon Bay has also approved separate allocations for ADUs in projects with new single-family homes.
The motion unanimously passed at an April 19 City Council meeting. The passage of the first reading of the ordinance means a second reading will occur on May 3.
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