Heated Debate Brewing Over Granny Flats In San Diego

San Diego's campaign to help solve the housing crisis through the construction of granny flats is facing backlash, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Residents in Kensington, Talmadge, Rolando, and El Cerrito are calling for an immediate moratorium on the city policy approved in October.

The policy allows property owners to construct granny flats if they agree to rent restrictions on at least one of the granny flats, according to the Union-Tribune.

The residents, who have formed a group called Neighbors for a Better San Diego, say the new policy will cause some people to build several granny flats in their backyard.

They say this will destroy neighborhood character, make residential zoning meaningless, making parking scarcity worse, among other negative repercussions.

“The city made a pretty significant change to our single-family residential zoning, and there’s never really been a public debate about this,” one resident Geoff Hueter told the Union-Tribune. “This takes us from granny flats, which are for your older parents or your kids, to six- or eight-unit apartment buildings in back yards.”

San Diego softened many requirements for granny flats like parking requirements and property lines in October.

Residents say the well-intended rule changes have caused people to buy up properties, tear out trees, and build as many units as possible.

Over 1,000 residents have signed the petition demanding the moratorium.

Photo: Getty Images


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