Build More ADUs - An Rx to Increase Marin's Housing Supply*

Impact, connection, and capacity fees vary considerably throughout the County and such fees can be a disincentive to homeowners considering ADU development. Response: Partially Agree. It is true that development and/or impact fees can vary from municipality to municipality, and from agency to agency for a variety of reasons. These development fees, which can be considered excessive, at times can or will disincentivize a property owner from wanting to either redevelop their single-family home. However, what we have discovered, is that property owners are creating Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) for one of 2 reasons: 1) create rental income from the development; or 2) they are being created to house their aging parents (at times for themselves who are the persons that are aging). Some of our concerns, from a fire agency standpoint, that were not discussed in the report is the creation of ADU's in communities that have been identified to have limited ingress and egress, narrow winding roadways, within designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZ) and/or Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) zones that would cause possible evacuation hazards and delays in the event of a fast moving wildfire. We agree that by adding/creating ADUs within municipalities will assist with the lack of affordable housing and with the Regional Housing Numbers Allocation (RHNA) that has been imposed by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). However, ADU's will not be the only cure for the lack of housing supply in Marin County. RESPONSE TO GRAND JURY RECOMMENDATIONS By December 1, 2023, begin a feasibility assessment of waiving or significantly