Aesthetics and traffic aren't only issues with ADU proliferation

I visited my parents’ house where I grew up, and an accessory dwelling unit is being built next door. As I saw the new structure across the fence from what was once my backyard I realized aesthetics and traffic won’t be the only conflicts when commercial accessory dwelling units are built next to single-family residences.

I grew up near San Diego State University. Mini-dorms have been an issue since the 1980s. Recently the need for affordable housing has led local governments to be more flexible with accessory dwelling units. Those were once called “granny flats” and were intended for relatives or guests, but nowadays an ADU is often a rental property.

Accessory dwellings in the neighborhood actually preceded mini-dorms as well as ADU proliferation. A significant number of Jewish families lived in the neighborhood, so we were used to a sukkah in the yard. Sukkot is the Jewish harvest holiday. A sukkah is a hut, Hebrew nouns which end in ah are feminine nouns, and the plural for feminine nouns is too, so Sukkot means huts.

During the historical harvest, the Jews lived in huts during Sukkot. Many Jews would build a sukkah for Sukkot. Jewish families often had other priorities than taking down the sukkah after Sukkot was over, but nobody else in the neighborhood minded.

Some Jews celebrate Sukkot by living in the sukkah, so that could be considered the original accessory dwelling. However, the Jewish families who stayed in the sukkah outside were the actual property residents and the sukkot weren’t rented.

Accessory dwelling units were being built in the neighborhood before construction of the one next door to my parents began. One of my daughters had an idea about an ADU for my parents’ house. The stairs in the split-level house have become harder for my parents as they have aged, so my daughter suggested building an ADU where my parents could live and she would live in the original split-level house.

The idea of my daughter being nearby if my parents have any needs is another positive of such a plan. It’s not within the neighborhood community character, but it’s not a commercial rental.

Many of the original homeowners on the street where I grew up stayed in that house for decades. The neighbors on the east side lived in that house until their parents passed away. The daughters then sold that house to a family.

When that family had to move, the new buyers rented that house to multiple college students. The new construction includes a two-level detached ADU in the back yard as well as converting the garage into an apartment. The ADU likely meets city setback requirements, but it’s pretty close to the fence.

When I was growing up, the neighbor on the other side and I would sometimes play wiffle ball in my backyard. Sometimes a ball would be hit over the right field fence and into the back yard on the east. The neighbors let us go into the back yard to retrieve balls.

Under the current circumstances, if children were playing in my childhood backyard and a ball went over the fence, the kids would be near the renters’ residences. That’s merely an inconvenience to the residents.

Occasionally a thrown or batted ball would break a window in our house including the attached garage. Placing an ADU next to a single-family residence creates the scenario of windows being broken when children are playing in the residential backyard.

More than just balls from our property entered the neighbor’s yard. The long-time resident homeowners, who had pets themselves, were understanding when our family dog propelled himself over the fence and into the neighbor’s yard.

If in the future a dog was living on my childhood residential property, the new neighbors would have that experience. This could include puppies who are teething, so what the renting neighbors leave outside could be damaged and not by vengeance of the homeowning residents.

The wedding of one of the daughters next door was concurrent with a sleepover party at my house. The backyard patio had a basketball hoop, and we decided to play basketball early in the morning. The neighbors wanted to sleep, and we deferred to them.

Children in residential neighborhoods sometimes play basketball on the patio. If that disturbs the renters next door, the ADU is not compatible with a residential neighborhood.

If renters of a commercial ADU are inconvenienced by routine activities of a neighboring residential family, or even if minor property damage occurs which would not have occurred if the property had only a single-family primary dwelling, the landlord might seek action against the neighbor.

The neighbor could use that as proof that the ADU is not compatible with the zoned single-family residential use. Aesthetic and traffic impacts are bad enough, but if an ADU deprives the neighbors or normal activity the ADU should not have been built in the first place.

Right now the inconveniences of ADUs are to the single-family neighbor. If the single-family residents conduct their regular activities, inconveniences could also occur to the renters and the landlord.