Laguna Beach passes urgency ordinance to comply with state law on ADUs

Laguna Beach City Council members seemed well aware of a pattern when an ordinance seeking to bring city regulations on accessory dwelling units into compliance with recently passed state law came before them yet again on Tuesday night.

“We keep chasing the state,” Councilwoman Sue Kempf said. “I don’t know how many iterations of our ADU ordinance we’ve been through — two or three.”

New legislation at the state level, Assembly Bill 2533, increased the pathways to permit existing but unpermitted ADUs, which are often referred to as “granny flats.” Junior accessory dwelling units are now eligible for legalization. The construction cut-off date for such dwellings was moved up from Jan. 1, 2018 to Jan. 1, 2020.

State Senate Bill 1211, which goes into effect at the start of the new year, prohibits a city from requiring replacement parking in the case of the demolition or displacement of a surface parking lot for a proposed ADU. It also allows for up to eight detached ADUs for an existing multifamily dwelling, provided that they do not exceed the total number of primary dwelling units on the lot.

Local regulations on ADUs continue to be largely shaped by the California Coastal Act.

Anthony Viera, the acting planning manager for Laguna Beach, pointed out that because the city has a certified local coastal program it must require a coastal development permit for most ADUs. The only exception is for a property owner who is converting already habitable space into one of the units.

Viera further explained that in order to stay consistent with the Coastal Act and the city’s own coastal program, there are some additional standards an applicant seeking to build an ADU would need to meet: compliance with the 25-foot coastal bluff and 25-foot watercourse setbacks, and “an additional building setback, which essentially requires that you step back the upper-floor levels of the structure. There is also a requirement for replacement parking for the primary dwelling unit in the coastal zone on a one-for-one basis.”

News

Laguna Beach to apply modifications to ADU ordinance after Coastal Commission input

The Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously to accept the Coastal Commission’s revisions to the city’s ADU ordinance, bringing it into compliance with state law.

May 6, 2023

Laguna Beach must plan for 394 additional units, per its Regional Housing Needs Assessment allocation for the housing element cycle that began in 2021 and runs until 2029.

View equity frequently looms large in matters of development in the coastal community.

Mayor Alex Rounaghi said proposed state legislation introduced by Sen. Dave Min — Senate Bill 1055 — attempted to provide incentives such as local discretion on two-story ADUs if a city was on track to meet its required affordable housing stock. Min’s bill didn’t get a hearing.

“I do think that we absolutely need more housing, but what we have in Laguna Beach is a unique set of circumstances, where we have decades of view equity where people’s property value, a significant amount of it, is based on their views,” Rounaghi said. “When someone’s coming in with a 25-foot ADU that’s blocking 25 to 50% of their views, it’s not working, specifically in Laguna Beach. That’s why it’s unlikely the state would do anything about this ... because we have such a specific design review process and view equity, and that’s sort of why we are where we are.”

City Atty. Megan Garibaldi said local control has been chipped away through the years as cities have found loopholes.

“To the extent that we are trying to maximize local control, there is almost no local control,” Garibaldi said. “Five or six years ago, there was more, and that’s why they have new bills every year. A city will figure out some little sliver and try to use it, and the Legislature responds.

“There isn’t local control for design, development [and] rental. … I think we need to be clear, … all we’re doing is achieving compliance with our CDP and nothing more.”