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Published on 05/25/1998 All articles from this issue

Council makes changes to proposed SLU ordinance

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The changes were few. And they didn't address the city staff's concerns about cutting back on opportunities for affordable second living units. But the changes were significant enough to require the Los Altos City Council members to schedule another second reading for their proposed affordable second-living-unit ordinance.

An ordinance requires two readings before it goes into effect. If changes of substance are made during a second reading, that then becomes a first reading and another second reading is required.

That's what happened during the May 26 city council meeting to the SLU ordinance the council adopted May 12.

The first change includes "adding some flexibility for corner lots, regarding driveway access," said Los Altos Senior Planner Jim Mackenzie.

The issue is whether or not the access for the main house and the SLU would be combined on the same driveway. The change will allow the council, "on corner lots only," to review this on a "case by case basis," Mackenzie said.

The second change affects SLUs that would be attached to the main house. An SLU will be allowed on lots of 130 percent of the zoned size, or 13,000 square feet, when the SLU comes from "conversion of floor space for an integral addition to the existing house," Mackenzie said.

The main points of the ordinance remain the same:

Minimum lot size to be 150 percent of the parcel size for that zone, which is typically 15,000 square feet. This represents about 15 percent of the lots in town, 85 percent of which are smaller.

All SLUs must be rented at below-market rates, regardless of parcel size.

The maximum size for SLUs will be increased from 640 to 800 square feet.

Some are unhappy with the proposed ordinance, which is more restrictive than a trial ordinance that was on the books in Los Altos from 1995 to 1997. That ordinance, as part of the city's effort to meet its state mandated share of affordable housing, allowed below-market-rate SLUs on lots from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. In the prior ordinance, SLUs on lots larger than 15,000 square feet were not required to be rented to low income persons.

This new ordinance will "effectively gut affordable second living units," wrote former Los Altos Mayor Ruth H. Koehler to the council, and will "significantly weaken our general plan's housing element."

Some council members said that since recent applications for SLUs came from owners of larger lots, requiring the SLUs on larger lots to be affordable will increase the number in town.

City staff disagrees.

"Eliminating the majority of parcels in the city from the ability to even apply for an SLU use permit is not likely to result in more affordable SLUs," said Mackenzie and interim city manager Bill Zaner in a May 26 staff report.

"It is likely that the total number of SLU applications will drop significantly because of the inability of the property owner to realize a financial return on the construction costs," Mackenzie and Zaner said.

The city council will hold a second reading for the ordinance at its 7:30 p.m. meeting on June 9 at city hall, 1 N. San Antonio Road.