New water rules blamed for hampering ADU construction on San Mateo coast
One of the solutions for the Bay Area housing shortage is to build so-called back yard homes or accessory dwelling units. While state lawmakers have been removing a lot of the red tape to make it easier to build and sell them in recent years, contractors on the Peninsula say they're meeting a lot of resistance.
Building accessory dwelling units is becoming a steady source of income for general contractors like Tim Pond. But a new mandate in Montara, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the price tag, isn't helping.
"By the time you inform them of the cost upfront, people are often reluctant to start the process," said Pond.
State housing data shows about one in six of all new units permitted in California are ADUs.
But some Bay Area residents say their attempts to build accessory dwelling units are being met with unnecessary hurdles.
Contractors are feeling the pinch too, as they say a new requirement initiated in 2023 in Montara is slowing down the growth of ADUs.
The Montara Water & Sanitary District now requires builders to install new water lines and meters for all ADUs, rather than connect them to the existing lines on a property.
"It's just frustrating to me, especially since a lot of people are in need for these units, to have to tell them that they need to pay this amount of money and do this amount of unnecessary work," said Pond.
Since policymakers established in 2016 a statewide set of rules for legalizing accessory dwelling units, the number of ADUs permitted each year in California increased by more than 15,334% between 2016 and 2022, resulting in 83,865 ADUs permitted according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Montara residents trying to build ADUs have had to pull additional permits and pay other engineering fees in the thousands.
"They want us to dig into the street, to the middle of the street and install a pipe which roughly supplies 10 times the amount of water that we need for the ADU, to install a new water main and a new meter," said Pond.
Pond says no other jurisdiction in the Bay Area requires this additional setup that is tacking on $15-to-$20,000 to the cost of constructing an ADU.
Louis Mirante is Vice President of Public Policy on Housing, for the non-profit Bay Area Council.
"There are just so many agencies in California that don't see solving the housing crisis as part of their mandate who are actively making it worse. This is a good example of one of those situations," said Mirante.
The Montara Water & Sanitary District declined multiple on-camera interview requests by CBS News Bay Area to explain why the new water line and meter rules were put into place.
However MWSD did release this statement on April 18:
"MWSD is a public agency providing critical drinking water and sanitary sewer services to the 6,000 residents in Montara and Moss Beach on the San Mateo County Coastside. As the drinking water provider, we ensure adequate water supply for the current and future needs of this community.
ADUs are an important new housing opportunity in California. MWSD reviews individual ADU or JADU requests to ensure the customer's existing service line can adequately supply the new housing needs for drinking water as well as fire protection.
We have assisted over 20 property owners in building around 25 ADU or JADUs over the last two years. MWSD staff works regularly with property owners seeking to address leaks, fire protection, water use efficiency and new construction needs."
"This is currently uncommon I think in the Bay Area but it's a trend that I'm seeing and it concerns me," Mirante said.
"Your feasibility depends on cost and these costs increase overall to a point where it's just not worth it to build it," said Pond.
Pond says there's growing demand to build more ADUs in the Bay Area, but getting rid of unnecessary red tape is paramount in making a bigger dent in the housing crisis.
State housing data shows that for every ADU completed in 2022, roughly three permits were submitted in the previous year.
Housing experts say that's an indicator that local municipalities and contractors have not kept pace with demand in California.