Few Bay Area homeowners seek to build despite SB9

Build it, and they will come. Give the means to build it, and sometimes red tape and city development fees make the cost too high.

SB9, a new state law meant to streamline the building of second homes and duplexes on single-family lots, has been hamstrung by both, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators approved last year, was supposed to make it easier to allow property owners to override local zoning and split lots, convert homes to duplexes or build second homes on their property, allowing four units on lots that had one.

More than six months after SB9 took effect, few homeowners have applied for permits to build SB9 projects in much of the state. The newspaper couldn’t find one project that has broken ground in the Bay Area.

In San Francisco, 14 property owners have applied to build SB9 projects, all still being reviewed by the Planning Department. The number of proposed projects is even lower across the region: San Jose has seven. Santa Rosa has three. Concord has two. Hayward has one. Sunnyvale hasn’t received any permit applications.

The passage of SB9 was a victory for housing and YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) advocates. But supporters warned the law could be undermined at the local level. Housing advocates say dozens of cities across the state have passed ordinances that make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for homeowners to pursue SB9 projects.

“Virtually every city is restricting the law in some way,” said Rafa Sonnenfeld, director of legal advocacy at YIMBY Law, a housing advocacy group. “I’m not aware of any in the Bay Area that are exemplary.”

In Sunnyvale, a couple who wanted to build a second home in their backyard tabled their plans when a city planner hit them with a $95,832 parks fee – the same fee charged to developers of a seven-home subdivision. They built an accessory dwelling unit, subject to no fee, instead.

Other cities have adopted design rules that equate to “death by 1,000 cuts,” Sonnenfeld told the Chronicle.

YIMBY Law is tracking at least 80 cities that have adopted or are considering policies it deems hostile to the law, from San Francisco to Sunnyvale. It has asked state Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate 50 cities it says are out of compliance.

San Francisco has tried to exempt itself from the law entirely. The Board of Supervisors approved a policy last month to scrap single-family zoning and allow fourplexes in every neighborhood, which would remove the streamlined permit approval process of SB9.

Dennis Richards, a former San Francisco planning commissioner who helped organize a failed effort to overturn SB9 at the polls, said he and others now aim for a 2024 ballot initiative. He said cities are resistant because they’ve been bombarded with new housing laws.

“We’re being carpet-bombed,” Richards said. “Every time we turn around, there’s another law coming our way.”

[San Francisco Chronicle] – Dana Bartholomew

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