New ADU rules could let San Diego homeowners sell backyard units
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A homeowner in Normal Heights posted a sign protesting a neighbor's ADU. Photo: Andrew Keatts/Axios
San Diego property owners may soon be able to build accessory dwelling units, or granny flats, and sell them as separate properties, like condos.
Why it matters: The expected change could spur more property owners to consider building backyard units, just as the city reins in ADU policies that generated neighborhood backlash.
Driving the news: Allowing property owners to sell ADUs like condos is the less-discussed provision in a package of reforms first approved by the City Council last month.
- The package still needs a second reading by the City Council to become official.
- That was scheduled for Tuesday's council meeting, but it was pulled from the agenda over the weekend.
The intrigue: Second readings are typically routine, but the final confirmation of the ADU package has now been pulled from the agenda twice this month.
Catch-up quick: The reform that generated the most attention was capping the number of units that could be built through the city's bonus ADU program at four to six, depending on property size.
- Previously, the city let owners build an extra unit for each ADU they agreed to reserve for renters earning below a certain income threshold, generating national attention.
- In areas near frequent public transit, the size of projects in the program was limited only by other restrictions — like building height — and led to complexes with dozens of apartments in the backyards of single-family homes.
State of play: In 2023, California passed AB 1033, making it possible for cities to allow ADUs to be sold as separate properties, but cities still needed to adopt rules implementing it.
- San Jose became the first California city to do so last year, following in the footsteps of cities like Seattle and Austin. San Diego is now likely joining them.
Between the lines: Colin Parent, director of the pro-development advocacy group Circulate San Diego, said he didn't mind reining in the bonus ADU program, since the city also allowed owners to sell ADUs.
- The ability to sell a unit could spur more ADU construction, he said, by making more homeowners or developers interested in building them.
What's next: For years, city officials shared an approach to housing politics focused on increasing development, despite local opposition, but that could be coming to an end.
- In the last two years, the council rejected a proposal to become California's first city to nix single-family zoning near transit and repealed a zoning loophole that surged development in southeastern San Diego and now could scale back its ADU ambitions.