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I've been attempting to get building permits for a small personal residence in a So Cal coastal town for nearly 3 years. The experience dealing with the city ha

by jread 9y ago

I've been attempting to get building permits for a small personal residence in a So Cal coastal town for nearly 3 years. The experience dealing with the city has felt very adversarial. The sense I have is that the city and most neighbors don't want new construction, and in that spirit put up as many roadblocks, opposition and red tape as possible to slow you down, and in many cases stop you through attrition. I've seen many try for years and give up including one project that has been ongoing for over 10 years. The first major hurdle is obtaining approval from a Design Review Board consisting of 5 elected board members who subjectively determine if the project is "neighborhood compatible". Even while complying with all zoning requirement for setbacks, building height and envelope, lot coverage, environmental impact, etc, and not requesting any variances, most projects stall here, some for years. The board convenes monthly and invites public participation and comments, and if there is opposition either from board members, or neighbors, you're in a very long and arduous process in getting approval. Common complaints are mass and scale, incompatible architecture, view blockage, noise pollution, excessive glazing, color choices, and the list goes on. When/if you get through design review, you're then off to coastal commission and building and safety for more review and approvals, and eventually building permits if you make it through it all. The entire process will take many years, and potentially 10s or 100s of thousands in expenses before you even break ground. This is for a single residence - I can only imagine the hurdles and expense for a multi-unit project. So I understand and agree with the state attempting to legislate a reduction on the restrictions and roadblocks that local municipalities impose on residential construction.

tmh79 9y ago
have you heard of the housing accountability act? The law was strengthened last year to protect you from having your project denied for arbitrary reasons. I'd reach out to CaRLA (california renters legal advocacy fund, http://www.carlaef.org/ http://www.carlaef.org/), and/or victoria fierce on twitter
- jread 9y ago
  We haven't been denied yet - we've been taking the friendly approach - meeting with board members, neighbors and attempting to address concerns before our hearing. CaRLA looks like a great resource if we were denied after all of this effort. We're attempting to build a small home and accessory apartment which will contribute in a small way to the supply of lower cost rentals which are scarce.
  - tdfischer 9y ago
    hello, victoria fierce here. CaRLA is collecting data on small projects like this so we know what parts of the state are friendlier to small homebuilders and not. If you've got a few minutes, can you submit your project here? http://www.carlaef.org/submit/ http://www.carlaef.org/submit/ we'd be happy to look over it and track your city council's actions on this as it moves along. in particular, it sounds like your project is zoning compliant and follows all the objective standards. at this point there is pretty much no legal reason for the city to hold up your project in design review or even deny it for arbitrary things like "too much glazing" unless they've already sent you a letter explaining--with quantifiable numbers--how much glazing is "too much".
    - jread 9y ago
      Thanks for responding here. I'll submit our project soon. We're hoping to have plans submitted and scheduled for the first hearing soon. We met 1:1 with 2 board members last year to solicit feedback, and we've made extensive changes already based on their input. One point of contention has been ADU parking. SB1069 65852.2 states that ADU parking should be waived if the unit resides within 1/2 mile of public transit which our unit will. However, city staff made the decision that because the city's public transit is subject to seasonal schedule and occasional route changes, they will not allow it to be considered for ADU parking waivers. Instead, only the county (OCTA) route will be considered which services PCH only and is well outside of the 1/2 mile range for most of the city. I find this to be a very convenient way to get around this requirement, which effectively eliminates many potential ADUs due to the unfeasibility of onsite parking - e.g. https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/lawmaker-presses-laguna-move-ahead-granny-flats/ https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/lawmaker-presses-laguna-move...
Sinnesloschen 9y ago
You could carefully review your local ordinances, if your allowed to make "improvements" to your house. You could theoretically tear down an entire house with the exception of a single internal wall. Then build you to your desire what you wish around this existing wall. Once enclosed, repair or accidentally knock over said wall and continue building. It's not as nice a starting fresh but it gets around a lot of the stifling that happens in regards to building new buildings. If your just making improvements there is a lot more freedom in refurbishing and most code enforcement municipalities just drive by to check on your work. Your most likely not going to run into trouble. Let me end with, this was done in another state, not by a lawyer, just some random guy on the internet.
- jread 9y ago
  Remodeling down to the studs is what many people do, but we have an empty lot.
- hardtke 9y ago
  This is very common in California because under this scenario your house is not reassessed for prop 13 property tax purposes. Your cost basis only goes up by the dollar value of the improvements (which you can easily understate). If you do a complete teardown, the county reassesses at current market value. A lot of people leave the chimney up because you get the added benefit of getting grandfathered on the air quality ordinances.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  This only works if you're in a nice neighborhood or well connected. If you're in a part of town that "the powers that be" see as a stain on the rest of the town it usually doesn't work out.
tnorthcutt 9y ago
excessive glazing Wait – neighbors complain about a (potential) new home because it is designed with too many windows?
- jread 9y ago
  Yes citing reflection of the sun off the glass, light pollution, privacy and inefficiencies for heating/cooling the home.
  - hx87 9y ago
    It's almost like they've never heard of orientation, shading, or SHGCs.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Privacy?! How does that affect the neighbors? Or is it related to future "property value" and its influence on the whole neighborhood?
kevinburke 9y ago
I would encourage folks to apply for these boards (look for "Planning Commission" on your city website). They are appointed commissions usually looking for volunteers. I applied. I think it's the best way to change things.

by jread 9y ago

tmh79 9y ago

have you heard of the housing accountability act? The law was strengthened last year to protect you from having your project denied for arbitrary reasons. I'd reach out to CaRLA (california renters legal advocacy fund, http://www.carlaef.org/ http://www.carlaef.org/), and/or victoria fierce on twitter

jread 9y ago
We haven't been denied yet - we've been taking the friendly approach - meeting with board members, neighbors and attempting to address concerns before our hearing. CaRLA looks like a great resource if we were denied after all of this effort. We're attempting to build a small home and accessory apartment which will contribute in a small way to the supply of lower cost rentals which are scarce.
- tdfischer 9y ago
  hello, victoria fierce here. CaRLA is collecting data on small projects like this so we know what parts of the state are friendlier to small homebuilders and not. If you've got a few minutes, can you submit your project here? http://www.carlaef.org/submit/ http://www.carlaef.org/submit/ we'd be happy to look over it and track your city council's actions on this as it moves along. in particular, it sounds like your project is zoning compliant and follows all the objective standards. at this point there is pretty much no legal reason for the city to hold up your project in design review or even deny it for arbitrary things like "too much glazing" unless they've already sent you a letter explaining--with quantifiable numbers--how much glazing is "too much".
  - jread 9y ago
    Thanks for responding here. I'll submit our project soon. We're hoping to have plans submitted and scheduled for the first hearing soon. We met 1:1 with 2 board members last year to solicit feedback, and we've made extensive changes already based on their input. One point of contention has been ADU parking. SB1069 65852.2 states that ADU parking should be waived if the unit resides within 1/2 mile of public transit which our unit will. However, city staff made the decision that because the city's public transit is subject to seasonal schedule and occasional route changes, they will not allow it to be considered for ADU parking waivers. Instead, only the county (OCTA) route will be considered which services PCH only and is well outside of the 1/2 mile range for most of the city. I find this to be a very convenient way to get around this requirement, which effectively eliminates many potential ADUs due to the unfeasibility of onsite parking - e.g. https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/lawmaker-presses-laguna-move-ahead-granny-flats/ https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/lawmaker-presses-laguna-move...

Sinnesloschen 9y ago

You could carefully review your local ordinances, if your allowed to make "improvements" to your house. You could theoretically tear down an entire house with the exception of a single internal wall. Then build you to your desire what you wish around this existing wall. Once enclosed, repair or accidentally knock over said wall and continue building. It's not as nice a starting fresh but it gets around a lot of the stifling that happens in regards to building new buildings. If your just making improvements there is a lot more freedom in refurbishing and most code enforcement municipalities just drive by to check on your work. Your most likely not going to run into trouble. Let me end with, this was done in another state, not by a lawyer, just some random guy on the internet.

jread 9y ago
Remodeling down to the studs is what many people do, but we have an empty lot.
hardtke 9y ago
This is very common in California because under this scenario your house is not reassessed for prop 13 property tax purposes. Your cost basis only goes up by the dollar value of the improvements (which you can easily understate). If you do a complete teardown, the county reassesses at current market value. A lot of people leave the chimney up because you get the added benefit of getting grandfathered on the air quality ordinances.
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
This only works if you're in a nice neighborhood or well connected. If you're in a part of town that "the powers that be" see as a stain on the rest of the town it usually doesn't work out.

tnorthcutt 9y ago

excessive glazing Wait – neighbors complain about a (potential) new home because it is designed with too many windows?

jread 9y ago
Yes citing reflection of the sun off the glass, light pollution, privacy and inefficiencies for heating/cooling the home.
- hx87 9y ago
  It's almost like they've never heard of orientation, shading, or SHGCs.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Privacy?! How does that affect the neighbors? Or is it related to future "property value" and its influence on the whole neighborhood?

kevinburke 9y ago

I would encourage folks to apply for these boards (look for "Planning Commission" on your city website). They are appointed commissions usually looking for volunteers. I applied. I think it's the best way to change things.