Multigenerational living: Doubling up and hunkering down for the duration
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Extended families are moving in together (or next to each other) either due to financial circumstances or through deliberate choice, according to a couple of stories in the Home section.
Although more aging adults are moving into separate residences on their children’s properties, the process of adding a guesthouse to single-family residence is not easy.
The state passed a measure in 2003 to help ease the second-unit approval process by allowing those wanting to build in-law units to bypass city planners and go straight to the building departments with their plans, said Jane Blumenfeld, a Los Angeles city planner. But the state law did not prevent cities from requiring that a number of criteria be met to get approval. And every jurisdiction has its own set of regulations, said Jesse Brown, assistant planner for Burbank. Probably the toughest criteria in L.A. are that second units must be no larger than 640 square feet and that they must meet yard setbacks and height requirements. A 5,000-square-foot lot with a main house, for example, would need an extra 2,500 square feet of yard to accommodate a second unit. Also, there must be at least one covered or uncovered parking space for the granny flat. In Burbank, ‘second-dwelling units’ are not permitted within 300 feet of the main house, and they may not exceed 500 square feet. ‘We don’t get a lot of applications..., ‘ Brown said.
Still, that doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone. Permits or no, ‘these conversions are happening regularly,’ said Russell T. Valone II, president and chief executive of San Diego-based MarketPointe Realty Advisors.
-- Lauren Beale
Thoughts? Comments?
