Expert says ADUs reduce cost of housing, but some neighbors find them intrusive
Southern California has seen a huge boom in accessory dwelling units, otherwise known as ADUs, and while they're meant to add inventory to the tight housing market, some residents said they're becoming a nuisance.
One resident of a Woodland Hills neighborhood said the relative quiet of the area has been interrupted by drills and hammers, with four ADU's going up on their street.
"One the same side of my street, the second house in, directly across the street, two houses next to each other, and two doors down from me as well," said Eric Cohen.
There's also another ADU going in directly behind his house as well.
Cohen called the city to complain about a two-story ADU that towers over neighboring properties and can be seen best from his neighbor's backyard.
"I said, can we add a fence that will cover it? Well, he says permits are only for a six foot fence."
That property, with the two-story ADU, already has a converted garage as well.
"We have never seen three addresses on one property before,' Cohen said.
The developer even added a fence straight through the backyard, prompting Cohen to point out that there are now basically two backyards on the property. Potentially, three families could live on the lot.
"I think the biggest concern is the traffic that it will bring, the parking it will bring, and of course, the invasion of privacy," Cohen said.
According to data from the state, California saw about 1,296 permits for ADUs in 2016. That number in 2018 jumped to nearly 9,000 and in 2019, it was nearly 15,000.
"And then last year, there was a law that allowed duplexes and, in some cases, four-plexes to be built where was a single family lot," Gary Painter said.
Painter is a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California. He said despite the boom, ADUs are not taking over neighborhoods, but added that they are helping with the housing crunch, boosting property values and lowering rents.
"It relieves a little bit of the pressure on the overall market for living in a unit. So, what that does, it brings in more units and reduces housing costs writ large, and this has been shown in research in city after city after city," Painter said.
As for Cohen, he knows it will be impossible to stop the ADUs in his neighborhood from going, but he felt like he needed to say something about it.
"I am speaking out because it just feels shocking and it doesn't feel right that the builder or investors are able to come into neighborhoods and take away people's privacy."
