Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/07/2018

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Zoning to Promote Garage Apartments By Anne Brown, Vinit Mukhija, and Donald Shoup, FAICP American cities have a large supply of garages that could be converted into afford- able apartments, but off-street parking requirements prevent converting most of these garages into housing for people. Converted garages in single-family neighborhoods are variously called second units, accessory dwelling units, garage apartments, granny flats, and backyard cottages. To convert a garage into an apart- ment, off-street parking requirements typically force a home owner to replace the two garage parking spaces with two new off-street parking spaces, plus an addi- tional off-street parking space for the new apartment. These parking requirements make it almost impossible —financially and physically —for most home owners to legally convert garages into housing. To make it easier to convert garages into housing, some cities have removed parking requirements for the second units. Although the residents of the garage apart- ments are less likely than others to own cars, many do own cars —some of which are parked on the street. Thus, converting a two -car garage into an apartment can add three cars parked on the street, and neighbors may fear that the conversions will congest on -street parking. This dilemma can be resolved in neigh- borhoods with a residential parking permit district. We propose that cities remove the off-street parking requirements for single- family homes that have second units, and limit the number of on -street parking permits at that address to the number of cars that can park in front of the property. Managing on -street parking in this way can eliminate fears that converting garages into housing will flood the street with parked cars. NOT IN MY NEIGHBOR'S BACKYARD While reduced parking requirements for garage apartments can increase the sup- ply of affordable housing, home owners often oppose garage conversions in their own neighborhood because of concerns about on -street parking. Explaining why she opposed garage apartments, one plan- ning commissioner in a Southern California city said that she bought her house in a neighborhood "where I wouldn't have to worry if I was going to be able to park in front of my own house." Garage conversions can face severe political problems if local offi- cials fear that the new residents will create parking problems. This fear is exaggerated. A study of middle -income single-family home own- ers in the Los Angeles area found that 75 percent of garages were used to store old furniture or other household goods, not cars. Figure i shows two of these garages, where cars are out and just about everything else is in. In addition, many older garages are too small to accommodate larger modern vehicles such as pickup trucks or sports utility vehicles. Garage conversions are unlikely to displace many cars from garages because many cars are already in driveways or on the streets. Nevertheless, many resi- dents fear garage conversions will lead to overcrowded on -street parking. How can cit- ies remove off-street parking requirements for houses with garage apartments without crowding on -street parking and arousing political opposition? Figures. A Look Inside Garages In Los Angeles. 20/2. From Life at Home in the 21stCentury 32 Families Open Their Doors. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ZONINGPRACTICE 5.i8 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Ipage 2