CC Exhibit 12-19-2017 Item No. 17 Accessory Dwelling Units - Written CommunicationsBoard of Directors
Ron Gonzales, Chair
Hispanic Foundation
of Silicon Valley
Janice Jensen, Vice Chair
Habitat for Humanity
East Bay/Silicon Valley
Kevin Zwick, Treasurer
Housing Trust Silicon Valley
Kathy Thibodeaux, Secretary
KM Thibodeaux Consulting LLC
Shiloh Ballard
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
Bob Brownstein
Working Partnerships USA
Christine Carr
Rahul Chandhok
San Francisco 49ers
Katie Ferrick
LinkedIn
Amie Fishman
Non-Profit Housing Association of
Northern California
Javier Gonzalez
Google
Poncho Guevara
Sacred Heart Community Service
Jan Lindenthal
MidPen Housing
Jennifer Loving
Destination: Home
Mary Murtagh
EAH Housing
Chris Neale
The Core Companies
Andrea Osgood
Eden Housing
Kelly Snider
Kelly Snider Consulting
Jennifer Van Every
The Van Every Group
Staff
Leslye Corsiglia
Executive Director
350 W. Julian Street, Building 5, San José, CA 95110
408.780.2261 • www.svathome.org • info@siliconvalleyathome.org
TRANSMITTED VIA EMAIL
December 18, 2017
Honorable Mayor Paul and Members of the City Council
City of Cupertino
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
Dear Mayor Paul, Vice Mayor Sinks, and Councilmembers Chang, Scharf, and
Vaidhyanathan:
Re: December 19, 2017 City Council Agenda Item 17 —
Consider an ordinance to amend regulations in Title 19, Zoning of the
Municipal Code with regard to Accessory Dwelling Units
On behalf of our members, we thank you for considering amendments to the City of
Cupertino’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance in order to comply with State
legislation adopted in 2016 and 2017. We support the staff recommendations, but we
also urge the Council to consider further revisions to allow and encourage more
Cupertino homeowners to consider building ADUs.
The amendments adopted by the Council in November 2016 were an important first
step. However, in order to fully leverage ADUs as a policy solution, Cupertino must
take additional steps to encourage homeowners to build them. SV@Home encourages
the City of Cupertino to consider the following policy changes that would allow the City
to unlock the potential of ADUs:
•Reduce the minimum lot size requirement for ADUs. Cupertino has one of the
highest minimum lot size requirements in Santa Clara County – 10,000 square feet
for a detached ADU. This is an enormous barrier that automatically bars many, if
not most, of the City’s single family lots from eligibility. By comparison, Palo Alto
recently reduced its minimum lot size to 5,000 square feet, and Mountain View
eliminated its minimum lot size requirement entirely. A separate minimum lot
size requirement, in addition to the existing zoning requirements, creates an
additional constraint that could exclude a significant number of homeowners
from the opportunity to build an ADU. We strongly recommend that the City of
Cupertino reduce or eliminate its extremely high minimum lot size requirement.
•Broadly legalize existing ADUs that can meet basic building, health, and safety
standards even if they are non-compliant with current planning codes. A
legalization program for such units would encourage owners to come forward and
Cupertino City Council
Re: December 19, 2017 City Council Agenda Item 17 – Accessory Dwelling Units
December 18, 2017
Page 2 of 2
•bring their units into compliance with building and safety codes, while keeping current tenants
from being permanently displaced. ADUs that are safe for occupants and neighbors should be
allowed to come into compliance with building and safety codes and be legally occupied,
without facing any penalties.
•Reduce fees associated with ADU construction. Fees can add tens of thousands of dollars to
the cost of creating ADUs, especially those that treat an ADU like a new use rather than an
accessory to a single family home. Reducing financial burden for homeowners through reduced
fees or a fee-waiver program can make ADUs more affordable. As an example, the City of
Mountain View significantly reduced its Park Land Dedication In-Lieu Fee for ADUs, recognizing
that an ADU will likely have fewer occupants than the average single family home.
•Finally, we recommend that the City of Cupertino dedicate resources toward the creation of a
robust Accessory Dwelling Unit program that provides resources and guidance to homeowners
who are interested in creating secondary dwelling units on their property. The City of Santa
Cruz’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program, combined with its flexible ADU ordinance,
demonstrates the positive impact of this combined approach; between 2003 and 2015, the City
has built nearly 350 secondary dwelling units.
ADUs can provide a rapid means of providing missing-middle housing within the existing fabric of
Cupertino’s single family neighborhoods. Among the City's homeowners are retirees looking for a way
to age in place, working families who could benefit from an additional source of income to help pay for
their mortgage, and parents with older children who have moved back home and otherwise would not
be able to afford a home in Silicon Valley. For these individuals and the many moderate-income
renters who struggle to find housing in this area, ADUs can provide a broader range of affordable
housing options that allow them to live near their family and/or place of work.
We thank you for considering these recommendations. As interest in ADUs grows among residents and
other jurisdictions across the County, we hope to serve as resource to the City for information
regarding ADU policy best practices. Please let us know how we can support your efforts to address
Cupertino’s housing affordability challenges.
Sincerely,
Pilar Lorenzana
Deputy Director
Cc
Aarti Shrivastava, Assistant City Manager & Director of Community Development
Piu Ghosh, Principal Planner
Andrae Wara-Macapinlac, Senior District Representative, Office of Senator Bob Wieckowski
Senator Bob Wieckowski, California Senate District 10
50 W. Julian Street, Building 5, San José, CA 95110
408.780.2261 • www.svathome.org • info@siliconvalleyathome.org