Rancho Palos Verdes Prefab ADU
On October 3, 2021, Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) homeowners submitted an application for a 495 sq. ft. prefabricated accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to the city, only to be rejected on architectural standards that cannot legally apply to this project. This prefab unit fits well within the state’s exemption category to which state law dictates that local design requirements may not be applied. Exemption ADUs can be up to 800 sq. ft and 16 ft in height, with 4 feet side and rear yard setbacks. Like many, the homeowners are trying to plan ahead for their aging parents and decided that building an ADU was a good option for their family. With very busy schedules, they enlisted a full-service prefab ADU company Abodu, a Bay Area company that manages construction and permitting of backyard units, to save time and money and avoid headaches. Abodu managed the permitting process up until Rancho Palos Verdes’s unlawful denial of the permit, after which, they quickly connected the homeowners to legal representation with CaRLA. The owner’s permit application was entitled to ministerial approval without application of local architecture and design standards as an Exemption ADU under Cal. Gov. Code § 65852.2(e). However, on November 1st, […]
8041 Ellis Avenue, Huntington Beach
Starting back in 2010, the City of Huntington Beach enacted the Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan which designated the area around the intersection of Beach Boulevard, Ellis Avenue, and Main Street as high-density housing. Huntington Beach would later revise the Specific Plan to half the number of units allowed to be developed, spurring extended litigation over whether the lower density violated Housing Element requirements. Fast forward to 2020 when THDT Investment proposed a modest apartment building at 8041 Ellis Avenue in Huntington Beach, a parcel within this Specific Plan. The proposed building is directly across the street from a six-story, 274-unit apartment building and compliant with all of the city’s own objective land-use standards for the site, in both the General Plan and the Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan. Nevertheless, the city denied the project. Their reasons are predictable: the building did not “fit”, nor did it maintain consistency with the “spirit” or “vision” of the city’s plans. However, the Housing Accountability Act does not defer to nebulous feelings about “spirit” or “vision”; rather, it plainly states that only the objective, quantifiable zoning standards matter. THDT Investments appealed to the city with this information who, once again, denied […]
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San Mateo
- APPLICATION OF CALIFORNIANS FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP AND THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® FOR LEAVE TO FILE A BRIEF, AS AMICUS CURIAE, IN SUPPORT OF APPELLANTS, AND PROPOSED BRIEF
- Application to file amicus curiae brief and brief of amicus league of california cities
- [PROPOSED] AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS CITY OF SAN MATEO, ET AL
- Motion for Judicial Notice
- Application for permission to file amici curiae brief in support of appellants; amici curiae brief of building industry association-bay area, et al
- APPLICATION OF HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GREATER SAN FRANCISCO, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE A BRIEF, AS AMICUS CURIAE, IN SUPPORT OF APPELLANTS AND PROPOSED BRIEF
- Amici Curiae Brief of Law Professors
- Intervenor’s Reply Brief
- AG’s Motion for Judicial Notice
- Appellant’s Reply Brief