Rancho Santa Margarita To Update 'Granny Flat' ADU Municipal Code

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA — The Rancho Santa Margarita Planning Commission met Wednesday to discuss state-mandated changes for adding Accessory Dwelling Units— or "granny flats"—to the city's municipal code. The city's current municipal code is out of date after California state law's new passage in 2020.

Last year, California changed the laws regarding property additions and separate living apartments. Each unit is complete with independent living facilities on the same property as a primary residence and repurposes space that is not currently living space. These additions are to be prohibited as short-term rental units, according to the new guidelines.

Each addition would need to be 800 square feet or less, and no impact fees would be levied on the homeowner for making these changes.

Some of the changes with state law include being able to bring unpermitted additions up to code within five years, shorter approval periods, homeowner associations cannot prohibit the units' addition, and there will be more parking acceptions, according to the state. While a homeowner could add up to two ADUs on a single property, there are strict rules and guidelines for the repurposed living space.

In Rancho Santa Margarita, the planning commission has leaned toward the strictest of those guidelines, according to Cheryl Kuta, Development Services Director. "The state considers the ADU units ideal for affordable housing," she said.

"We've seen a lot of home improvements as people are investing in their homes," Kuta said. "During the shutdown, people just continued to work on their homes."

Until the city council adopts the newly proposed municipal code, as discussed Wednesday, the planning commission would have to look to the state code to process that and not refer to our current code, Kuta said.

If a homeowner wishes to add a unit, either detached, attached, or converted Junior accessory dwelling unit, they would go to a permit process. HOA's are not allowed to prohibit the addition, according to the meeting.

Building additional ADUs or Junior ADUs on a property, such as inside a garage, could cause city parking issues and concerns regarding the number of residents living inside one home.

Community members and commissioners spoke on the additions.

"I take issue with the state's usurpation of local control," Chairwoman Kristin Camuglia said during the meeting. "They have the potential for increasing property value when done well. Our hope is that builders will add this into their new home products. On the other hand, when done not well, aesthetics and property values could be negative."

The Planning Commission had two options from Wednesday's meeting: to approve or to approve with modifications. The planning commission has placed the most restrictive size permitted under state law on new units.

The commission discussed that this is part of a six-month conversation. Education for residents on what sort of ADU or JADU would be easily permitted could be up for discussion.

"In northern OC cities, small homes with larger lost, hundreds of ADU applications are submitted," according to Kuta. In Rancho Santa Margarita, you have larger homes on smaller lots. They are single-family detached, but you have to look at each one on a case-by-case basis, according to Kuta.

Only one community member had a comment on the matter.

"You're trying to make this sound like this is good?" Bob Sysgender, a community member, voiced his opposition at the meeting. "They're forcing their agenda on us, we talked about carports and laundry rooms, and you can stuff people in there? This is a serious thing we just discussed."

The motion passed, albeit reluctantly, and will move on to the city council.