City of Ventura Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance – Update No. 2 (7/21/17)

From: “Ward, David” <dward@cityofventura.ca.gov>
Date: Jul 21, 2017 2:38 PM
Subject: City of Ventura Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance — Update No. 2

Greetings –

You are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in the City’s development of the permanent Accessory Dwelling Unit “ADU” Ordinance in Ventura. I had anticipated an additional update prior to this one, but unfortunately with workload on previously directed City ordinances and trying to fit in the unexpected ADU ordinance taken longer to complete this effort and now the goal is trying to finalize and get into adoption process. However, staff is nearly there!

Hearing Dates

The Planning Commission will consider the ADU ordinance on August 9^th. You will all get an email announcement and that will link you to the staff report and methods to engage with the Planning Commission on either July 28^th or 31^st.  The Planning Commission will complete technical review of the ordinance and provide recommendation to the City Council. I am targeting September 18^th as the City Council hearing, but that could slip a week or two, depending on what happens at the Planning Commission. Our Planning Commission welcomes participation through letters and through comment or speaker cards during the hearing itself.

ADU Standards

The forthcoming Planning Commission report will contain a summary of the ordinance components, highlighting policy consistency and key standards for the Planning Commission to advise staff and the City Council, plus attachments will helpful information related to our analysis effort. In general, the standards will contain the following:

• do keep the unit size at a maximum of 750 square feet but we have incorporated the increased lot coverage and “rear yard” coverages when an ADU is sought;
• height standards match the primary unit height if attached, 14 feet if detached in a rear yard, and only allows a 2^nd story if on existing garage per the state law;
• design/compatibility standards for rear or side facing windows on an 2^nd story with translucent glazing and limited window opening to help with privacy on adjacent lots;
• replacement parking for a converted garage while can be uncovered and tandem, will not be allowed on open space areas (so on driveways);
• parking for the ADU will be rarely required due to the availability of public transit within ½ mile of the property;
• building separation of 10 feet is maintained but there may be methods to reduce based upon case by case assessment of the Fire and Building Code; and lastly
• the owner-occupant standard is retained to allow the Planning Commission to hear from the community and provide direction but the comments received have remained at about 60/40  split with the dominant voice to not have this requirement.

Regarding Historic Districts:  an ADU will be possible but not under ministerial review. Depending on the guidelines of the specific district, Historic Preservation Committee and Design Review Committee review will be required. However, the review will be limited to colors, materials or architectural features, not the ADU standards which would be addressed only by staff for code compliance.

Regarding Coastal Zone:  Only the Downtown Specific Plan and a portion of the Midtown Corridors Development Code allow for “carriage houses” that will now be called ADUs. Once we adopt the new permanent ADU regulations the City will need to submit this to the Coastal Commission before they are effective. This means we will need to extend the Interim Urgency Ordinance until this step is completed, likely 9-12 months.

RPD (residential planned development) Zones:  This is my last area of analysis because each of these zones were developed with specific standards such as lot coverage, setbacks or use restrictions than exist in other residential zones. It is possible in these areas we might excludes ADUs or possibly require discretionary approvals in order to evaluate at the time. As this is still a work in progress, you will need to read the PC Report and draft ordinance  when released to see how this is ultimately addressed.

ADU Fees

The forthcoming Planning Commission report will summarize the fees, but the adoption of fees is a City Council action, not Planning Commission. We are still evaluating part of the fees because it is very complex and has legal implications. However I know that this is number one question you have all been asking about so I will try to give some details on this.

We have processed only a couple of ADUs under the Interim Ordinance and therefore can share with you how the current costs have broken down. In general there is the a “75% of the standard fee” that has been used. This means the costs of an ADU as compared to a new single family home is reduced, with is the intent of the State Law.  Depending on whether the ADU is a conversion of existing structure (detached garage or converting portion of existing primary home) with NO added square feet or a NEW ADU (attached or detached), it is the later that triggers the added fee associated with the Water Net Zero fee.  Below are examples of recent fees applied to give you an idea, with the single family fees last to give you a comparison; generally about 52% reduction.

There may still be adjustments on the fee amounts as I finalize my work with our legal team.

This is the most recent permit that was issued for a “new” ADU :

Fee Name	Date	Fee Type	Amount
Water Net Zero Fee (City)	6/20/2017	Calculated	7408
Sewer Service Connection Fee	4/12/2017	Calculated	3570.75
Traffic Mitigation Impact Fee	4/12/2017	Calculated	3145
Public Park Mitigation Fee – Grany Flat	4/12/2017	Calculated	1525
z8-1-11 Fire Fac & Equip Mitigation per MH Fee	4/19/2017	Calculated	613
B-Service Area Park Mitigation Fee	5/15/2017	Calculated	371
z8-1-11 Capitol Improvement Program per MH Fee	4/19/2017	Calculated	359
z8-1-11 Parks & Recreation Mobile Home Pad Fee	4/19/2017	Calculated	359
z7-1-16 Mobile Home Set Up Fee	4/19/2017	Fixed	349
Planning Plan Check Fee	4/6/2017	Fixed	178
LD Plan Check – Alt./Add. – Res.	4/12/2017	Fixed	166
z7-1-16 Plan Check Fee	4/3/2017	Calculated	155
Fire Prevention Plan Check Fee	4/21/2017	Calculated	124
z7-1-16 Archival Of Approved Plans Fee	4/19/2017	Calculated	96
z4-1-12 GIS Building Footprint Update Fee	4/19/2017	Calculated	37
z7-1-16 Technology Fee	4/3/2017	Calculated	36.12
General Plan 5 Percent	4/3/2017	Fixed	25.8
State Strong Motion Instrumentation Fee	4/3/2017	Calculated	19.5
z7-1-16 Permit Issuance Fee	4/3/2017	Fixed	12
State SB 1473 Building Standards Fee	4/3/2017	Adjustable	6
State AB 717 Certification & Training Fee	4/3/2017	Fixed	4
			$18559.17

These are fees for most recent garage conversion to ADU (with NO NEW sq.ft. added):

Fee Name	Date	Fee Type	Amount
Sewer Service Connection Fee	5/29/2017	Calculated	3570.75
Traffic Mitigation Impact Fee	5/29/2017	Calculated	3145
Public Park Mitigation Fee – Grany Flat	5/29/2017	Calculated	1525
z7-1-13 Capitol Improvement Program Fee	5/19/2017	Fixed	1104
z7-1-13 Fire Fac & Equip Mitigation Fee	5/19/2017	Fixed	842
z7-1-13 Parks & Rec Dwelling Fee	5/19/2017	Fixed	628
Service Area Parks Mitigation Fee	6/20/2017	Calculated	610
z7-1-16 Plan Check Fee	5/19/2017	Calculated	481.17
1-1-14 Building Permit Fee	6/20/2017	Calculated	310.43
LD Plan Check – New Constr. – 1 Single Family Res.	5/29/2017	Fixed	166
Fire Prevention Plan Check Fee	5/30/2017	Calculated	124
Planning Plan Check Fee	5/23/2017	Calculated	95
z7-1-16 Archival Of Approved Plans Fee	6/20/2017	Calculated	64
z7-1-16 Technology Fee	5/19/2017	Calculated	56.25
General Plan 5 Percent	5/19/2017	Fixed	40.18
z7-1-16 Permit Issuance Fee	5/19/2017	Fixed	12
State AB 717 Certification & Training Fee	5/19/2017	Fixed	4
State SB 1473 Building Standards Fee	5/19/2017	Adjustable	1
State Strong Motion Instrumentation Fee	5/19/2017	Calculated	0.5
			$12779

As a comparison, the following are the fees for a new single family home on a vacant lot (with a ¾” meter):

Fee Name	Date	Fee Type	Amount
Water Net Zero Fee (city)	2/28/2017	Calculated	10847.37
Traffic Mitigation Impact Fee	1/4/2017	Calculated	5245
Sewer Service Connection Fee	1/4/2017	Calculated	4761
Public Park Mitigation Fee – Residential	1/4/2017	Calculated	3050
Water Service Connection Fee	1/4/2017	Calculated	3016
z8-1-11 Parks & Rec 4 or More Bedroom Dwelling Fee	1/9/2017	Calculated	1887
z7-1-16 Plan Check Fee	10/7/2016	Calculated	1483.08
Sewer Capacity Deficiency Fee – Ventura Ave	1/4/2017	Calculated	1369
z7-1-13 Capitol Improvement Program Fee	10/7/2016	Fixed	1288
z7-1-13 Fire Fac & Equip Mitigation Fee	10/7/2016	Fixed	823
Service Area Parks Mitigation Fee	1/9/2017	Calculated	610
z7-1-16 Technology Fee	10/7/2016	Calculated	280.99
General Plan 5 Percent	10/7/2016	Fixed	200.71
Planning Plan Check Fee	11/7/2016	Calculated	190
z7-1-16 Archival Of Approved Plans Fee	1/9/2017	Calculated	176
LD Plan Check – New Constr. – 1 Single Family Res.	1/4/2017	Fixed	163
z4-1-12 GIS Building Footprint Update Fee	1/9/2017	Calculated	37
State Strong Motion Instrumentation Fee	10/7/2016	Calculated	25.12
z7-1-16 Permit Issuance Fee	10/7/2016	Fixed	12
State SB 1473 Building Standards Fee	10/7/2016	Adjustable	7.73
State AB 717 Certification & Training Fee	10/7/2016	Fixed