Matthew Glesne, Housing Planner at the Department of City Planning presented the latest updates at the December 10 PlanCheckNC meeting on the draft Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance CPC-2016-4345-CA that will be at the City Planning Commission Public Hearing on Thursday, December 15, 2016.

On September 27th, 2016, Governor Brown signed two accessory dwelling unit bills into State law, Assembly Bill (AB) 2299 and Senate Bill (SB) 1069 that amended the State’s existing second unit law (Government Code Section 65852.2). These amendments to the existing second unit law go into effect on January 1, 2017. The new version of State law makes clear that City ordinances which do not align with State law shall be “null and void” and that, until which time a jurisdiction adopts its own ordinance, in accordance with State law, the state standards specified in section 65852.2 shall be enforced.

On Thursday the City Planning Commission will hear testimony regarding the City’s  code amendment to add a new subsection 12.22 of Chapter 1 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) for the purpose of regulating accessory dwelling units and complying with state law, as well as to repeal subsections 12.24 W.43 and 12.24 W.44 of Chapter 1 of the LAMC.

Hearing from a broad audience Matthew clarified many concerns, questions and suggestions.  Several are contained in the Accessory Dwelling Units FAQs.

KEY PROVISIONS OF ORDINANCE
Accessory Dwelling Units are:
– Not allowed in Hillside areas.
– Not allowed between the front of the primary residence and the street.
– Only allowed in zones that allow residential uses with an existing single-family residence.
– Limited to only one per lot.
– Limited in size, to 50% of the primary residence and up to a maximum of 1200 sq.ft.
– Required to meet all underlying zoning and land use regulations.

Attend and speak at the CPC hearing on Dec. 15 or submit comments (be sure to bring 20 copies) directly to the City Planning Commission at cpc@lacity.org