Nearly two months after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to eliminate local controls that might hinder the development of new granny flats — otherwise known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs) — the Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously to enact an emergency ban on new granny-flat applications in parts of town where steep and narrow roads make mass evacuations challenging if not impossible. This temporary ban also applies to historically significant properties that might be compromised by such development and could last for as long as a year.
In this time, the council and city staff will attempt to craft local ordinances that comply with the state’s radical new hands-off doctrine when it comes to housing regulations, while also addressing the health-and-safety concerns expressed by city Fire Marshal Joe Poiré and traffic engineer Derrick Bailey. They contend the potential onslaught of new granny flats in certain single-family neighborhoods could generate enough additional traffic and congestion — especially in times of fire — to constitute an imminent threat to public safety.
Whether it’s possible for the council to draft anything that meets the Legislature’s newfound sense of urgency when it comes to California’s housing crisis remains to be seen. But without the emergency measure enacted by the council, Santa Barbara’s own granny-flat ordinance would have been deemed null and void as of January 1. In its place would have been the state’s less-restrictive language.