Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse
Strategy-of-the-Month Club
December 2006
Local governments often encourage the
development of
accessory dwelling units (second units)
to provide
housing opportunities for lower income
households.
Accessory dwellings units can be either
house
extensions, apartments, or even in
some cases, small-
detached units that provide for additional
independent living units in areas zoned
only for single-
family residential. In some cases these
units are
prohibited, but several jurisdictions
have established
procedures for legally permitting such
units. However,
many communities experiencing severe
affordable housing
shortages may find that they already
have a number of
illegally constructed second units.
As such,
California's Marin County Board of
Supervisors approved
a Second Unit Amnesty Program, which
takes effect
January 1 through December 31, 2007.
The purpose of the
program is to:
o Ensure that existing second units
are safe and
habitable;
o Increase the housing stock to meet
the county's
affordable housing needs; and,
o Encourage the development of new
second units and
the legalization of existing units
by reducing
permit fees by 50 percent for the duration
of the
program.
The program is expected to save existing
second units,
which would otherwise be lost through
code enforcement
actions.
If you'd like to know more, an abstract
and the original
resolution can be found
at http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/Main/comdev/CURRENT/second_unit_amnesty.cfm.
We hope this information proves useful
to you in your
efforts to create affordable housing.
If you have
regulatory reform strategies or resources
that you'd
like to share, send us an email at
rbcsubmit@huduser.gov,
call us at 1-800-245-2691 (option 4),
or visit our
website at www.regbarriers.org.
Feel free to forward this message to
anyone who is
working to reduce regulatory barriers
to affordable
housing.
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