CC 12-05-23 Item No. 11 Two-Story Permit and ADU Ordinance_Written Communications (2)CC 12-05-2023
Item No. 11
Two-Story Permit and
ADU Ordinance
Written Communications
From:Jennifer Griffin
To:City Clerk
Cc:grenna5000@yahoo.com
Subject:Fwd: Item Number 11 Cupertino City Council, Dec. 5, 2023
Date:Tuesday, December 5, 2023 7:20:45 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Please kindly add to the public record. Thank you.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Item Number 11 Cupertino City Council, Dec. 5, 2023
From: Jennifer Griffin <grenna5000@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 7:13 AM
To: citycouncil@cupertino.org
CC: cityclerk@cupertino.org,grenna5000@yahoo.com
Dear City Council:
I am very concerned with Number 11 from the City Council meeting , Dec. 5, 2023.
Two story adus should not be allowed in the City of Cupertino. What are there
Structures supposed to become? Stand alone skinny apartment complexes?
These structures can be four feet from a property line already. It they have a second
Story they will invade the privacy of adjacent neighbors. They will interfere with
Power lines close to them.
If you have two story adus, you have basically built a condo complex on a lot.
There is a new bill that allows all the adus on a lot to be sold separately.
So is this the plan to allow these two story adus to be sold as separate residences?
These will have to be metered separately and an HOA formed between the other
Adus in the lot. Who will collect the money for the HOA fees?
There has been no study session to allow the public to weigh in on issues
Such as two story adus. The plans for two story adus were added into the Planning
Commission on November 14 at a very late hour. There has been no outreach to the
Public.
I am really concerned that the public had no idea two story adus were going to be brought up
By two members of the Planning Commission. There was absolutely no mention of it, yet all
these letters
From Cupertino4All and other people that were identical letters came flooding in before the
meeting.
How did they know these two story adus and other adu changes were being introduced at
11:30
PM? Did someone tell them before and not mention it to the general public? It seems very
peculiar etc.
My brother had adus added to his street in Portland. There are so many sure the street parking
is gone because
People who live in the adus have no place to park their cars. Two story adus might have
Three or four residents. They may have two or more cars. These cars will be parked on
The Neighborhood streets.
I don't think having two story adus are a good plan for Cupertino. It is like the City was setting
Up to sell the adus in future. This will cause innumerable issues that have not been studied
Or resolved. Apparently, one group of people were told about the two story adus before the
Meeting, but no one else. This whole item should be postponed as something shady may be
Going on.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Griffin
From:Kitty Moore
To:Pamela Wu; City Clerk
Cc:Matt Morley; Benjamin Fu; Luke Connolly
Subject:December 5 Item 11 Written Communications and Staff Questions FW: Two Story Adus and Other Agendas
Date:Monday, December 4, 2023 7:10:36 PM
Hi,
Thank you for the report for Item 11. The following are questions/comments for Staff and Written
Communications.
Question 1:
Which ADU proposals are beyond those in the State requirements?
Question 2:
Do the State ADU requirements sunset?
Question 3:
Is there any particular need for Cupertino to adopt the State law as local law when State law has to
be followed?
Question 4:
Please provide any statistics or information to inform us whether anyone is renting these spaces to
non-family members. When a property owner adds an attached, detached, and/or JR ADU to their
property, does their property value tend to decline or increase? Has the addition of ADUs in
Cupertino lowered property values? Did this State removal of local control by the housing laws
governing ADUs make housing more affordable?
Thank you,
Kitty Moore
Kitty Moore
Councilmember
City Council
KMoore@cupertino.gov
(408) 777-1389
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:December 5 Agenda 11 changes to ADUs
Date:Tuesday, December 5, 2023 3:05:28 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Council,
Regarding December 5 Agenda 11 changes to ADUs.
In my opinion, any ADU exceeding a single-story must comply with all rules pertaining to
single-family homes such as the height, FAR (floor area ratio) and setbacks.
Please adhere to the Strategic Goals set forth in the current budget.
Thanks,
Rhoda Fry
From:Neil Park-McClintick
To:City Clerk; City Council; Cupertino City Manager"s Office
Subject:Fwd: (Strengthen Item 4 on ADUs) or (Clarify and Boost ADU Rules)
Date:Tuesday, December 5, 2023 3:48:31 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hello. I would like to forward the comments we submitted to the planning commission
regarding tonight's related item 11 on the agenda (ADUs and 2 story streamlining).
We support the ordinance as worded. Additionally, an even stronger ordinance would
demonstrate to the State of California that we are acting in good faith to do everything we can
to meet our local obligations for solving the housing crisis. There is more that could be done in
coordination with the new pre-approved selection program for example.
In a time of great potential crisis for the city, it does not make sense to waste city resources on
reviewing 2 story permits and minor improvements to homes, when we could be directing
staffing resources to more significant potential projects.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Neil Park-McClintick <neil@cupertinoforall.org>
Date: Tue, Nov 14, 2023 at 4:33 PM
Subject: (Strengthen Item 4 on ADUs) or (Clarify and Boost ADU Rules)
To: <planningcommission@cupertino.org>, <planning@cupertino.org>,
<housing@cupertino.org>
Dear Cupertino Planning Commission,
I’m personally glad our city’s planning commission is taking up the revision of ADU rules,
with the passage of new state laws requiring cities to relax unnecessary rules. I can
personally speak to the need for ADUs as one of many new housing options. When I was a
college student, I lived in a garage->ADU conversion, which provided a rental rate
almost half of the typical market rate housing option. It was the reason I was able to
continue attending school and complete my degree. I believe others should have this
same opportunity!
ADUs have shown to be an effective way to house new families and individuals in
Cupertino and have generated significant interest from property owners; now the city
should ensure all homeowners have an equal opportunity to pursue this desirable use of
their land, rather than just those with the means, expertise, and time.
Still, I believe the planning commission should better clarify new ADU rules, while also
further empowering property owners to build new homes on their own land. The
commission should advise Council on stronger language that:
1.
Makes ADU regulations simpler, especially since small property owners are unlikely
familiar with complex land use principles. Simplification and alignment with our
existing pre-approved ADU ordinance are also essential to ensure the program is
better utilized.
2.
Provide across the board permission for ADUs to be up to two stories in height, as
was intended by the passage of new state laws. There is no reason we should restrict
heights for such a small type of housing, which will result in limited new impacts on
the community. For homeowners, these restrictions will limit access to opportunity
based on neighborhoods, when all should be allowed this same ability. In addition,
Cupertino has a uniquely large number of multigenerational families who deserve
ample space to live together, with caretakers and other loved ones. Transit oriented
development should be focused around true dense, multi family homes, rather than
single story additions.
3.
In line with the above, we should also increase design flexibility by cleanly allowing
for both detached and attached ADUs to accommodate all types of families and
homeowners of all backgrounds and situations.
4.
Provide the same opportunities for single-story and multi-story single family
homeowners.
5.
Remove all mentions of proximity to transit within the context of ADUs.
ADUs are an effective, desirable way to better meet our housing needs, without noticeable
impacts on neighborhoods, while also placing the financial onus on homeowners, who are
demonstrably eager to build these homes. We should be simplifying and incentivizing our
ambitious, thoughtful residents, instead of making the process needlessly challenging.
Thank you for your consideration,
Neil Park-McClintick,
from a family of longtime cupertino residents