Burbank approves interim ordinance regulating granny flats
Burbank City Council members are trying to fight back against new state regulations regarding accessory-dwelling units they believe will destroy single-family neighborhoods in the city.
Council members unanimously voted last week to adopt an interim development-control ordinance regulating accessory-dwelling units, also known as ADUs or granny flats, as a temporary way to provide the city with some protection as the laws go into effect Jan. 1.
Maciel Medina, an associate planner for the city, said Burbank had approved an ordinance in March 2018 regulating ADUs in response to state laws introduced at that time.
However, state officials recently approved new regulations — Assembly bills 68 and 881 and Senate Bill 13 — which will render the city’s current ordinance on ADUs void and automatically implement the state’s laws.
Medina said the adoption of an interim ordinance will temporarily align the city’s regulations with those of the state.
Meanwhile, city staff is expected to return to council on Jan. 7 with an amendment to the city’s ordinance that will be designed to provide a more permanent solution.
The intent of the new state ADU regulations is to address California’s housing shortage by increasing the housing stock, but council members think the state law further removes any local control cities have on regulating the matter.
For instance, the new state law requires that ADUs be allowed in all areas zoned residential.
However, city officials argue and state in the interim ordinance, that specific exceptions need to be made to R-1-H neighborhoods — the Rancho District of Burbank, where horses can be stabled on residential property, as well as houses in the city’s hillside fire zone.
In terms of the R-1-H neighborhoods, Medina said the interim ordinance almost mirrors the city’s regulations, which allow for ADUs if they involve the conversion of an existing garage or dwelling unit on the property.
New state regulations also prohibit cities from counting the square footage of an ADU toward the floor-area ratio of a property.
Additionally, new state laws allow granny flats to be built up to 1,200 square feet if they are a stand-alone structure or up to half of the square footage of the main house if they are attached to the main dwelling.
Burbank had previously capped the size of ADUs at 500 square feet and stated the unit could not put the property over its floor-area ratio limit, which for most properties in the city is 40% of the lot size.
The city’s interim ordinance will allow for an attached ADU to be up to half of the square footage of the main house and allow for a detached granny flat up to 1,000 square feet if it has two bedrooms.
The interim ordinance will allow for ADUs up to 850 square feet for studios and one-bedroom units.
Scott Plambaeck, deputy city planner for Burbank, said the city has either approved or is currently reviewing more than 350 ADU applications over the last two years.
Councilman Jess Talamantes said the city’s current ordinance had been working effectively and has contributed to the housing stock.
However, he thinks Burbank and other cities that have complied with state regulations are being punished along with those that failed to do so.
“I don’t like it, but I think we have to move forward with this, unfortunately,” he said.
Vice Mayor Bob Frutos said the new state laws will ruin the city’s neighborhoods, which city officials have been trying to protect.
“This is destroying the quality of life that we moved here [for],” he said.
