Home Additions Come Under Scrutiny

“Granny apartments” and room additions may appeal to prospective home buyers, but such additions--many of them illegal--are a thorn in the side for some City Council members in Temple City who hope that a proposed inspection program would limit such units.

Despite objections from several residents at a recent meeting, the council directed the Planning Commission to examine whether homeowners and businesses should be required to submit property inspection reports to the city before selling their properties.

If the council adopts such an ordinance, Temple City would join such cities as Monterey Park and Pasadena in requiring inspection reports, said Bob Dawson, community development director. Sierra Madre and San Marino are considering similar proposals, he said.

The ordinance would check the growth of illegally built rental units, such as garages that have been converted into apartments, Councilman Tom Atkins said. “We have to have some way of making the illegal use go away.”

The inspections would also help the city enforce property maintenance codes, Dawson said. Before escrow can close, sellers would have to make sure that their properties conformed to laws that require owners to take care of their property, he said.

As homes get older, complaints about poor maintenance increase. Such complaints have jumped from 10 to 15 calls a month in the early 1980s to between 50 and 80 calls now, Dawson said.

But the idea for mandatory property inspections did not sit well with Councilman Ken Gillanders and Mayor pro tem Thomas Breazeal.

“Frankly, I think you are pulling the lid off the Pandora’s box,” Gillanders said, adding that the ordinance may subject the city to lawsuits from property owners. “This thing you could drive a truck through.”

Breazeal, noting that a 1987 state law already requires disclosures in property transfers, said the proposed ordinance would be redundant. He also was concerned that the city may not have enough staff members to perform the inspections, he said.

But Mayor Patrick Froehle said he knows of buyers who specifically want single-family homes with additional rental units and do not care if the additions are legal. “The disclosure act doesn’t work,” he said.

According to a staff report, a $100 inspection fee would help cover personnel and overhead costs of the resale inspection program. The city could use its own inspector or it could contract with Los Angeles County or private firms to do the inspections, Dawson said.

The inspection report, valid for six months after being issued, would include a description of the property, its zoning classification, permitted use and whether there were any illegal structures.

But some residents at the meeting opposed the idea. William Bretz, 38, told the council that the inspection program amounted to more bureaucratic red tape.

Bretz’s home was in county territory before the city annexed it. He said a room addition he built before the annexation meets county building codes but may not meet the city’s stricter requirements.

Subjecting homes such as his to a resale inspection program would be a burden, he said.

Councilwoman Mary Lou Swain assured Bretz and other residents that their comments would be considered by the Planning Commission and the council as they draft the ordinance.

“This is a long ways down the road from being fact,” she said.