Long Beach will look at establishing a program that will provide pre-approved extra dwelling unit layouts for property owners interested in increasing the number of housing Long Beach ADU units for the town.
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City Council voted Tuesday night for a proposal to be reviewed in the next few months. The plan details how the approval process for ADUs, often called “Granny Flats,” can be speeded up, possibly by providing designs approved before construction, which could reduce the approval timeframe between weeks and days.
Councilmembers Al Austin and Surely Saro, who came up with the idea, suggested that it could be a new toolbox that the city could use to achieve its housing goals for the region of producing more than 26,500 homes in 2029.
“I think it’s vital to adopt a very radical approach to solving our housing problem,” Austin said Tuesday.
Other cities across the state have enacted similar programs, with some offering the plans to build ADUs to residents at no cost, and others, such as Los Angeles, requiring residents who want to construct units to purchase pre-approved plans straight from the contractors.
It needs to be clarified that it’s unclear how the Long Beach program would work. However, council members weighed in Tuesday on what the program should appear like.
Councilwoman Stacy Mungo Flanigan request
Councilwoman Stacy Mungo Flanigan requested to consider including an additional fee to help recoup costs if the city chooses to put money into developing an initiative. She also suggested that floor plans that are approved by the town should include an attached fee schedule that informs homeowners about the charges associated with things such as sewer access, trash recycling, and assisting local schools.
This would let people understand what they’re dealing with before they’ve even begun the procedure, Mungo Flanigan told reporters.
“We are working on several projects stuck because of people running out of cash, and it’s not great for the community.” Mungo Flanigan said.
While the program might expedite the permitting process and eliminate architect’s fees, typically costing just a few thousand dollars, the construction of ADUs will likely cost numerous thousands according to their size. Unit.
59,800 Homes in the City Can Include an ADU
City planners have stated that the permits for these kinds of backyard extensions have increased up to hundreds per year and that they could produce the range of 450-500 per annum for a duration that spans ten years.
According to a city estimate, around 59,800 homes in the city can include an ADU, but only 47,244 are suitable for constructing one. The city’s ordinance limits the dimensions of one’s ADU to 800 sq. feet. However, the law in the state permits the creation of a third “Jr. ADU,” which can share bathrooms in the main house when kitchen efficiency is met in the ADU.
A complete picture of the city’s plan of Long Beach ADU may be brought before the city’s council members as early as March. Austin and Saro’s motion demanded that the report be finished within 60 days.
The city’s latest memo offered alternatives that the City Council could consider to aid in the growth of ADUs that are often called “Granny Flats” in the face of a city struggling with a housing crisis that has led to the increasing costs of renting for residents of the area.
ADUs in Finalizing the City’s State-Required Plan
In January, the council demanded a plan to provide ADUs in finalizing the city’s state-required plan for the future production of housing, referred to as “the Housing Element. The city’s goal for display for 2029 is 26,500. City planners have predicted that ADUs could play a part in achieving that goal.
City planners estimate that ADU capacity in the city may increase to around 500 per year over the next ten years and remain this high for about five years. The town currently receives about 300 ADU applications each year.
To accelerate the process of obtaining permits and lower costs, the council may consider allowing local architects to submit plans to the city for pre-approval. The plans could then be sold to homeowners who want to build a house on their property.
The city also allows manufacturers of manufactured homes to submit their designs for approval of the town, allowing for an opportunity to build faster for homeowners.