Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/07/2018

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TABLE 1. SHARE OF UNPERMITTED SINGLE-FAMILY UNITS IN THE LARGEST METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS, 2000-2014 MSA Increase in Number of Housing Units Number of Building Permits Los Angeles New York Boston Philadelphia Chicago Miami Washington, D.C. Dallas Atlanta Houston (1) 454,728 566,167 205,337 317,891 514,888 298,554 398,169 608,604 582,114 581,674 Total 4,528,127 (2) 155,344 235,846 86,102 153,821 292,800 188,632 279,401 459,609 471,479 526,312 Number of New Units without Permits. (3) = (1) - (2) _. 299,384 330,321 119,235 164,070 222,088 109,922 118,768 148,995 110,635 55,362 Percentage of New Units without Permits (4) = (3)/(1) 66% 58% 0.63 58% 1.54 52% 1.03 43% o.06 37% 30% 24% -0.35 19% 0.04 1o% -0.19 Wharton Regulatory Index (5) 0.51 NA 0.33 2,849,346 1,678,781 Complete sources and methodology available In "Converting Garages into Housing," published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research. Instead of requiring off-street parking to prevent crowded on -street spaces, cities can better manage the on -street parking. Parking is not the only reason why neighbors may object to garage conversions, but it is a major reason and a politically powerful one. If cities remove on -street parking problems as an objection to garage apartments, the other issues (such as concerns about noise or attracting lower -income residents to high - income neighborhoods) can be discussed more openly. Other zoning regulations for second units (location, size, safety, con- struction materials, and occupancy limits) can remain largely unchanged. REFORMING OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS One way to manage on -street parking is to limit the number of cars permitted to park on the street. In residential permit parking (RPP) districts, the city can limit the number of on - street parking permits for cars registered at any address with a second unit. An RPP dis- trict is necessary but not sufficient to prevent garage conversions from crowding the curb. Although cities create permit districts only where parking is already scarce, they can be irresponsible about the number of permits issued. For example, a political firestorm erupted in San Francisco when•journalists discovered that romance novelist Danielle Steel had 26 residential parking permits for her mansion in Pacific Heights. To solve the on -street parking problem, cities can impose an if -then condition for garage conversions: /fan owner receives a permit to convert a garage into to housing, then the owner accepts a limit on the number of on -street parking permits at that address. This if -then condition can be included in the zoning for single-family neighborhoods with RPP districts. There are good precedents for this if -then policy. In 2016, Washington, D.C., halved its off-street parking requirements for multifamily buildings near transit with the provision that the residents cannot receive residential parking permits (§7o2.1(c)). In 2017, California adopted legislation that prohibits local governments from requiring any off-street parking for some multifam- ily developments "when on -street parking permits are required but not offered to the occupants of the development" (Government Code §65913.4(d)(1)(C)). Limiting the number of on -street parking permits at every address with a converted garage can eliminate the parking -related concerns of neighbors and thus reduce the political opposition to garage conversions. The option to convert a garage into housing in exchange for a limit on parking permits is far less restrictive than prohibiting garage conversions entirely. Furthermore, if 37% a city limits the number of on -street parking permits only at addresses with second units, the neighbors without second units can con- tinue receiving permits as usual. Because the if -then permit solution does what off- street parking requirements were intended to do —manage on -street parking conges- tion —cities can remove the off-street parking requirements altogether. Some cities offer permits that allow residents to park on the street in front of their own driveway, effectively creating a reserved curb space in front of every house and substantially increasing the on -street parking supply. If residents convert their garages into housing, these block -your - own -driveway permits can give property owners a guaranteed on -street parking space for themselves, guests, home help, and service vehicles. LEGALIZING UNPERMITTED GARAGE CONVERSIONS After a city has created a clear path for legal garage conversions, it can begin targeted code enforcement for illegally converted garages following a grace period, during which home owners may comply with new regulations. While heavy-handed enforcement would previ- ously have been "inhumane" due to the widespread displacement it would have caused, enforcement can now encourage ZONINGPRACTICE • 5.18 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Ipage3