All Forum Posts by: Colin L.

Yup, the state law is clear, OO is required for a JADU. I also agree with Dan that this will likely be short lived. It is unenforceable in my opinion. No city or county has the resources to hunt down JADU's being rented after an Owner moves out.

@Oleg Enik call local architects, they will be able to help analyze and interpret the zoning for the property.

You can check the zoning of the property a couple of ways, including San Diego's website:

http://apps3.sandiego.gov/siteinfoweb/begin.do

which will give you the base zoning.  RS zones are single family zones, and RM zones are multi-family.  For overlay zones I often look at this site:

https://scoutred.com/

Overlays are important especially since your lot is in Point Loma so there is a good chance you are in the Coastal Zone, and the canyons are often considered "environmentally sensitive" land, both types of overlays often require additional processes for permitting your project.  You can also call San Diego Development Services for zoning info and questions.  I can't post the # but it's on their contact page.

@Dan H. I hope you're right about dropping the JADU owner occupant requirement, how a city would even enforce that?

Also in my opinion the JADU can be combined as part of a new detached ADU under AB68, it doesn't have to be part of an existing space.

Hi Nate, you are absolutely right about the 100% density bonus.  Also to clarify on the affordable units, you would only need to provide 15% of the base units (in this case 15% of 5 = 0.75 = 1 affordable unit) as affordable for very low income tenants to get a 50% density bonus or 100% density bonus if you're in a transit priority area. In addition to the density bonus you also get up to 5 "incentives" which can be used to alter or reduce development standards (such as increased FAR, reduced setbacks, etc). The incentives are meant to make the project more feasible in return for the lower rent you'll be receiving. 

The affordable units are not subsidized, they are rent restricted, and the max rent you will be able to charge for that unit is based on the following which I pulled directly from a density bonus agreement:

The monthly rental rate for each Affordable Unit (which shall include a utility allowance based on the utility allowance schedules published annually by the Housing Authority) shall not exceed 1/12 of thirty percent (30%) of fifty percent (50%) of the Area Median Income, as adjusted for assumed household size and utilities. The imputed household size for each Affordable Unit shall be equal to the number of bedrooms in the unit plus one. For example, the rent for each ___-bedroom unit shall be calculated using fifty percent (50%) of the Area Median Income for a ___-person household.

The AMI can be found here:

https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/sdhcd/rental-assistance/income-limits-ami/

So for a 1BR unit (2 person household) you could charge a max of 1/12 of 30% of $42,800 or $1,070 per month.

The new state law that went into affect this year allows for 1 ADU and 1 Junior ADU. The JADU must be less than 500 SF and attached to either the main house or ADU. Also you will not have to replace the parking lost by converting the garage, and any ADU under 750 SF is exempt from impact fees. You will still have to pay permit fees which I don't know what they are for Chula Vista but my guess would be in the $2-4k range.

@Steven Clark look into heat pump electric water heaters. They are not tankless but heat pumps are super efficient.

@Antonio Davis

I was actually just hired to help with a feasibility study for same thing. In about 2-3 months I could probably help a lot more.

In regards to fire codes you’ll need 1 hr rated separation between units, and possibly sprinklers depending on the local code.

My other big concern for this type of project is do we need to provide accessibility for the first floor units? My initial read is that will be required but again it may depend on local codes.

new tech city?  probably not.  I went to school at SU and lived there for about 7 years and have family in the area, and I see/hear of good things happening such as people fixing up old houses, developers fixing up the old downtown buildings, there is an ongoing process to update zoning citywide which should help facilitate growth, syracuse land bank is faciliting redevelopment and removing blight, etc.  It also sounds like the powers that be are leaning towards removing 81 from downtown which in my opinion is the right choice and will unlock a lot of downtown's potential.  I'm excited to see where things go from here. 

@Ricky Vasquez there are a lot of great agents in town that focus on investment properties and investors and would understand what you are looking for. I'd second the recommendation to check out some local REI meet ups.