Grass Valley taking steps to come into complaince with changes in state law regarding the creation of Accessory Dwelling Units or secondary housing units on properties with existing single family homes. Tuesday evening City Planner Lance Lowe, presented, to the Planning Commission, proposed changes to the existing City Development Code that will eliminate development impact fees for units less than 750 square feet.

Prior to the change, property owners had to spend full impact fees over 11 thousand dollars to build a unit.
Development Director Tom Last says for units greater than 750 feet the fees will be applied to the additional square footage that is proportional to fees for the original unit, but still far less than paying full impact fees. He used a 1000 square foot addtion to an existing 1000 square foot home as an example.

Staff confirmed that the number of requests for Accessory Dwelling Units has been limited to only a couple per year and only a few or none have been in excess of 750 square feet because of lot limitations within city limits.