Laguna Planning Commission favors increasing size of granny flats

The Laguna Beach Planning Commission on Wednesday suggested multiple changes to the city’s ordinance related to living quarters known as granny flats, including increasing the maximum unit size.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to boost the limit from 640 square feet to 750 square feet for accessory dwelling units, formerly called second residential units.

The commission also suggested a unit, an independent living area with a kitchen and restroom, cover no more than 10% of a lot compared to Laguna’s current 7% standard.

Suggested edits are to align the city with changes in state law that took effect in January.

Gov. Jerry Brown last year signed Assembly Bill 2299 from Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) and Senate Bill 1069 by Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont).

The goal of the new legislation is to make it easier to develop affordable housing options for family members, students, seniors, in-home care providers and disabled persons.

Commissioners favored allowing property owners to rent a unit at market rate if it does not cover more than 7% of the lot. But, if the unit’s size exceeds 7%, then the unit must be rented for a senior, or a person of low-to-moderate income scale as determined by the county, Community Development Director Greg Pfost confirmed in an email Thursday.

The thought behind this rule, according to the city, is that seniors who can no longer afford their house payments could stay on their property — living in an accessory dwelling unit — and rent out their house at market rate.

Commissioners did not arrive at some of their recommendations easily.

Commission Chairwoman Susan Whitin said an accessory dwelling unit should be considered within context of the building footprint rather than a percentage of lot size.

Laguna’s zoning laws would help dictate a unit’s maximum size, she said.

“None of these [7% or 10% of lot coverage] come close to what the state permits,” Whitin said.

According to state law, the floor area of an attached unit must not exceed 50% of the existing living area up to 1,200 square feet.

For lots between 1,000 and 4,000 square feet in Laguna, buildings currently can cover no more than 44% of the lot while leaving at least 15% of the lot as open space, according to a city staff report.

City staff will take feedback from the meeting and create a draft ordinance to present to the commission on Dec. 13. The City Council will eventually review the revised ordinance.

The California Coastal Commission will also review the ordinance as an amendment to Laguna’s Local Coastal Program, Coastal Commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz wrote in an email.

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