HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 13964
City of Palo Alto (ID # 13964)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Information Reports Meeting Date: 6/20/2022
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: ADU Quarterly Report (Quarter 1 through Quarter 4 CY 2021)
Title: Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Quarterly Report (Quarter 1 through
Quarter 4, Calendar Year 2021)
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Recommendation:
This is an informational report and no action is requested.
Executive Summary:
The Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Quarterly Report keeps track of the ADU permit applications
received, approved, and finalized yearly by the City, as well as the details of quarterly
applications received. Since 2015, the City has received 391 ADU/JADU building permit
applications and have issued a total of 255 permits. The City received and issued more
ADU/JADU building permit applications in 2021 than in another year since 2015 with 136
submitted applications and 89 ADU/JADU permits issued. The details of the applications are
provided in Attachment A of the staff report.
Background:
In June 2017, the City of Palo Alto amended the Zoning Code (Title 18) to adopt Accessory
Dwelling Unit (ADU) regulations to comply with State adopted requirements. At adoption, the
City Council directed staff to provide reports on the number of permits filed for the
construction of ADUs. The City Council received the last development report for the third and
fourth quarter of calendar year 2020 last August 30, 2021 (Report ID # 13410).
Council also adopted the City's ADU Ordinance (Ordinance 5507) on November 2020, which
updated the City's ADU regulations to comply with new State requirements in effect as of
January 1, 2020. This ordinance replaced the City's Interim Ordinance that was adopted in
January of the same year.
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Staff anticipate further revisions the ordinance coming forward later this year in response to
Council’s PTC referral to explore affordable ADUs as well as changes to further clarify ordinance
language.
Discussion:
This report tracks the ADU permit applications filed with the City and their status since 2015.
The following table (Table 1) is a “snapshot” of the rise in ADU permit applications and decrease
on impact fees collected before and after the adoption of new regulations.
Table 1: Summary of ADU Permits from 2015-2021
Category 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
New ADU Applications Filed1 10 9 28 55 75 78 136
Permits: Ready to Issue (City
Approved)2 8 5 12 39 62 46 112
Permits: Issued (Permit
Obtained)3 8 5 12 36 62 43 89
Permits: Final Inspection
Approved4 3 4 9 12 33 46 37
Permits Expired 1 1
Detached ADUs (Submitted)5 20 35 52 52 80
Detached ADUs (Issued)5 8 24 41 33 55
Attached ADUs (Submitted)6 8 20 23 20 56
Attached ADUs (Issued)6 4 11 21 9 34
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Junior ADUs (Submitted)7 1 1 1 25
Junior ADUs (Issued)7 1 1 1 9
Average Application Processing
Time (Days Including
Weekends)8
127 214 118 183 135 197 162
Average Construction Time
(Days Including Weekends)9 578 751 330 287 173 262 455
City Impact Fees Collected for
New ADUs10 $451,514 $402,012 $198,962 $44,057 $139,592
Source: City of Palo Alto Accela Data January 2015 through January 2021
Notes:
1. Any ADU/JADU Application SUBMITTED for the year
2. Any ADU/JADU application Permit 'READY TO Issue' for the year (regardless of when it was submitted)
3. Any ADU/JADU Permit ISSUED for the year (regardless of when it was submitted)
4. Any ADU/JADU Permit receiving a Final Inspection (Ready to Occupy) for the year, regardless of when the
application was
submitted. Years 2015-2017 data point not available.
5. Any Detached ADU Permit Application submitted for the year/Any Detached ADU Permit Issued for the year,
regardless of when the application was submitted. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
6. Any Attached ADU Permit Application submitted for the year/Any Attached ADU Permit Issued for the year,
regardless of when the application was submitted. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
7. Any JADU Permit Application submitted for the year/Any JADU Permit Issued for the year, regardless of when the
application was submitted. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
8. Average number of days from permit application submittal to when permit is approved and ready to issue. This
average includes weekends and days application is pending due to applicant preparation of resubmittal or additional
information from applicant.
9. Average number of days from permit issued to final inspection completed. This average includes weekends and
days staff is waiting for applicant to schedule the next required inspection.
10.Impact Fees collected for ADU’s permitted for the year. Years 2015-2016 data point not available.
Data from Table 1 shows that the City received 136 new ADU/JADU applications in 2021, which
is approximately a 75% increase in the number of ADUs submitted for all of 2020. The City also
issued 89 ADU/JADU permits in 2021, twice as many permits issued for calendar year 2020.
The average processing time, the time an application is submitted to the time the permit is
issued, fell by approximately 35 days or about an 18% decrease in processing time. On the other
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hand, construction time, the time a permit is issued to begin construction to the time the final
inspection is approved, increased to 455 days or about a 74% increase from year 2020. Supply
chain issues, COVID affecting construction workers, and the City’s constrained inspection
resources may have contributed to the increase in construction time for calendar year 2021.
Approximately 49% of the applications submitted in 2021 were located north of Oregon
Expressway while 51% of the applications were located south of the expressway. The majority of
the ADU applications filed are for one-bedroom units or about 67% of all ADU/JADU’s permitted
in 2021. The unit sizes ranged from 178 to 1,218 square feet, with an average unit size of 552
square feet.
The increased ADU production will also help the City meet its 2023-31 Regional Housing Needs
Allocation (RHNA). The City’s 2023-31 RHNA requirement is 6,086 units. The State Department
of Housing and Community Development (HCD) allows the average of a jurisdiction’s past three
years of ADU production and use that average to project its ADU production for the next eight
years. Therefore, the average annual production of years 2019-2021 is 64.7 ADUs per year.
Multiplied by eight (the number of years in the planning period), the City’s project ADU
production for 2023-31 is 517 units. Therefore, the 517 units will be applied towards the City’s
RHNA. These units will be included in the “above moderate” category.
Next Steps:
This is a quarterly report published by the Planning and Development Services Department.
Stakeholder Engagement:
This is an Informational Report for the City Council and does not require any stakeholder
engagements.
Environmental Review:
Not Applicable.
Attachments:
Attachment A: ADU Quarterly Report, 2021 Calendar Year (PDF)
Number of
Applications
Dwelling
Type
Project
Location Zoning Date Filed Application Status
Building
Permit
Issued
Attached Detached Attached2 Detached2 Garage
Other Accessory
Structure/Space # of Bedrooms ADU Size (SF)
1ADUSouthR‐1 (8000) 1/4/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 500
2ADUNorthR‐1 (10000) 1/14/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 0 178
3ADUNorthR‐1 1/19/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 664
4ADUNorthR‐1 1/21/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 449
5ADUNorthRM‐30 1/22/2021 Pending Resubmittal No XX 1 351
6ADUNorthR‐1 1/29/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 689
7ADUNorthR‐1 2/1/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 267
8ADUNorthR‐1 2/2/2021 Incomplete No XX 2 589
9ADUSouthR‐1 2/3/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 0 422
10 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 2/4/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 2 730
11 ADU North R‐1 2/11/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 1,218
12 ADU North R‐1 2/12/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 455
13 ADU South R‐1 2/16/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 594
14 ADU North R‐1 2/17/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 799
15 ADU North R‐1 2/18/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 691
16 ADU South R‐1 2/19/2021 Incomplete No X X 1 517
17 ADU South R‐1 2/19/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 687
18 ADU South R‐1 2/19/2021 Finaled Yes X X 1 400
19 ADU North R‐1 (S) 2/22/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 383
20 ADU South R‐1 8000 2/22/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 745
21 ADU North R‐1 (S) 2/22/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 383
22 ADU North R‐1 3/10/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 314
23 ADU South R‐1 3/10/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 636
24 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 3/19/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X X 1 450
25 ADU North R‐1 3/19/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 398
26 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 3/19/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 1,000
27 ADU South R‐1 3/23/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 418
28 ADU North R‐1 3/23/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 767
29 ADU South R‐1 3/24/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 261
30 ADU North R‐1 (7000) 3/25/2021 Finaled Yes XX 1 543
31 ADU North R‐1 3/25/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 725
32 ADU South R‐1 3/29/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 0 280
33 ADU South R‐1 4/1/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 660
34 ADU South R‐1 4/1/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 484
35 ADU South R‐1 4/5/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 0 385
36 ADU North R‐1 4/5/2021 Approved No XX 2 1,000
37 ADU South R‐1 (7000) 4/6/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 0 463
38 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 4/14/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 579
39 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 4/15/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 450
40 ADU South R‐1 4/19/2021 Incomplete No X 0 390
41 ADU North R‐1 4/21/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 676
42 ADU North R‐1 4/22/2021 Finaled Yes X X 1 435
43 ADU South R‐1 (7000)(S) 4/27/2021 Finaled Yes X X 0 240
44 ADU North R‐1 4/27/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 897
45 ADU North R‐1 5/1/2021 Finaled Yes X X 1 450
46 ADU South R‐1 5/6/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 846
47 ADU South R‐1 5/7/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 420
48 ADU South R‐1 5/11/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 0 465
Type of ConversionConversionNew Construction
Building Permits Applied for in 2021
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Number of
Applications
Dwelling
Type
Project
Location Zoning Date Filed Application Status
Building
Permit
Issued
Attached Detached Attached2 Detached2 Garage
Other Accessory
Structure/Space # of Bedrooms ADU Size (SF)
Type of ConversionConversionNew Construction
Building Permits Applied for in 2021
49 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 5/12/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 454
50 ADU North R‐1 5/14/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 886
51 ADU South R‐1 5/17/2021 In Plan Check No X 1 564
52 ADU South R‐1 (8000)(S) 5/20/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 565
53 ADU North R‐1 (10,000) 5/24/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 0 345
54 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 5/26/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 519
55 ADU South R‐1 6/3/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 0 479
56 ADU North R‐2 6/3/2021 Finaled Yes X 1 495
57 ADU North R‐1 6/3/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 560
58 ADU North R‐1 6/8/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 800
59 ADU South R‐1 6/11/2021 Incomplete No X 2 749
60 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 6/15/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 416
61 ADU South R‐1 6/16/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 392
62 ADU South R‐1 6/22/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 370
63 ADU North R‐1 6/23/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 294
64 ADU South R‐1 (S) 6/25/2021 Finaled Yes X 1 390
65 ADU North R‐1 6/25/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 2 998
66 ADU South R‐1 6/29/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 798
67 ADU South R‐1 7/2/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 665
68 ADU South R‐1 7/8/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 665
69 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 7/8/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 328
70 ADU South R‐1 (S) 7/13/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 800
71 ADU South R‐1 7/14/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 2 798
72 ADU North R‐1 7/14/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 749
73 ADU North R‐1 7/14/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 681
74 ADU North R‐1 7/22/2021 Finaled Yes X X 0 462
75 ADU South R‐1 7/26/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 621
76 ADU South RE 7/27/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 2 1,150
77 ADU South R‐1 7/28/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 329
78 ADU South R‐1 7/28/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 329
79 ADU South R‐1 7/28/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 694
80 ADU South R‐1 7/28/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 742
81 ADU South R‐1 7/28/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 742
82 ADU North R‐1 7/29/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 499
83 ADU North R‐1 8/2/2021 Incomplete No X 1 495
84 ADU North R‐1 (S) 8/2/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 565
85 ADU South R‐1 8/3/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 482
86 ADU North R‐1 8/4/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 509
87 ADU North R‐1 8/11/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 800
88 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 8/11/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 495
89 ADU North R‐1 8/11/2021 Submitted No 00
90 ADU South R‐1 8/23/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 793
91 ADU South R‐1 (S) 8/24/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 493
92 ADU North R‐1 8/25/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 798
93 ADU South R‐1 8/26/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 470
94 ADU South R‐1 8/30/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X X 1 351
95 ADU South R‐1 8/31/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 314
96 ADU South R‐1 9/1/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 512
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Number of
Applications
Dwelling
Type
Project
Location Zoning Date Filed Application Status
Building
Permit
Issued
Attached Detached Attached2 Detached2 Garage
Other Accessory
Structure/Space # of Bedrooms ADU Size (SF)
Type of ConversionConversionNew Construction
Building Permits Applied for in 2021
97 ADU North R‐1 9/1/2021 Incomplete No X X 1 418
98 ADU North R‐1 9/3/2021 Incomplete No X X 1 350
99 ADU South R‐1 9/7/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 495
100 ADU South R‐1 9/8/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 499
101 ADU South R‐1 9/13/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 0 430
102 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 9/16/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 367
103 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 9/16/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 615
104 ADU North R‐1 9/17/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 298
105 ADU North R‐1 9/17/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 298
106 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 9/21/2021 Finaled Yes X 1 495
107 ADU South R‐1 9/22/2021 Pending Resubmittal No XX 1 254
108 ADU North R‐1 9/22/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 723
109 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 9/27/2021 In Plan Check No X 1 678
110 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 9/27/2021 In Plan Check No X 1 678
111 ADU North R‐1 9/28/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 0 257
112 ADU South R‐1 9/28/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 693
113 ADU South R‐1 (7000) 10/5/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 499
114 ADU North PC‐3571 10/5/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 0 570
115 ADU South R‐1 10/5/2021 Pending Resubmittal No XX 0 407
116 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 10/18/2021 In Plan Check No X 1 474
117 ADU North RMD (NP) 10/20/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 426
118 ADU North R‐1 10/22/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 747
119 ADU North R‐1 10/26/2021 Permit Issued Yes X X 1 200
120 ADU South R‐1 10/26/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 260
121 ADU South R‐1 10/26/2021 In Plan Check No XX 1 592
122 ADU North R‐1 10/27/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 1 798
123 ADU North R‐1 11/1/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X X 1 231
124 ADU North R‐1 11/3/2021 In Plan Check No X 1 799
125 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 11/4/2021 In Plan Check No X 2 691
126 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 11/4/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 2 691
127 ADU South 11/10/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 407
128 ADU South R‐1 11/16/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X X 1 198
129 ADU South R‐1 (10000) 11/18/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X 3 1,000
130 ADU North R‐1 11/23/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X X 1 798
131 ADU South R‐1 (8000) 11/29/2021 Pending Resubmittal No X X 1 263
132 ADU South R‐1 12/6/2021 Pending Resubmittal No XX 1 592
133 ADU North R‐1 12/9/2021 Permit Issued Yes XX 1 512
134 ADU South R‐1 12/15/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 1 393
135 ADU South R‐1 (S) 12/15/2021 Incomplete No X X 1 365
136 ADU North R‐1 (10000) 12/22/2021 Permit Issued Yes X 2 499
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