Some of these recent proposals have broke new ground, but not in any way that addresses the fundamentals of the issue. First up was a proposal to limit ADU sizes in some cases to 500 sq ft versus the current limit of 1100. Second up was i believe a couple of planning commission members who lament that current McMansion ordinances actually promote them and that their solution is to further reduce FAR to 0.3.
Of course 2 ppl splitting a 1000 sq ft ADU will be more affordable than one person in a 500 sq ft unit or is the idea that 2 ppl should share the dorm room sized ADU? Too many fixed costs even beyond the land to make a difference worthy of the sacrifice.
And anything greater than 1800 sq ft on a 6000 sq ft lot is called a McMansion? Kinda hypocritical to talk about “family friendly housing” and then mandate how much room each family member is allowed. This will fuel further flight to the burbs for those who don’t want to participate in this contemporary form of asceticism, e.g. my coworker who lives in a 6 person HH in GT…
A lot of emphasis on ADUs. So much so that one gets the impression they could be built on any SF lot and that they will eventually be built in significant numbers to move the needle. Not reality and very doubtful.
Code next should simplify and reduce the number of rules with unattended consequences, but some just can’t help themselves. Of course the devil is in the details and maybe I am overreacting, but the current climate around code next doesn’t seem to be producing real solutions. It also hurts that code next will have less influence (in whatever final form) on the housing market than a large chunk of the public desires.