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County Housing Director Discusses Second Units at August Meeting
On Tuesday, August 7, Ken Cole, Director of the San Mateo County Department of Housing, shared information about building second units or accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in San Mateo County, emphasizing these additional housing units as one approach toward alleviating the increasing cost and limited supply of housing in San Mateo County, as well as reducing traffic congestion, while benefiting property owners.
Home for All is a community collaborative addressing the housing challenge in San Mateo County by promoting the preservation and production of all types of housing. Their goals include closing the 16:1 jobs/housing gap and adding 16,500 new housing units of varying levels of affordability between 2014 and 2022.
In his presentation, Cole demonstrated how rising housing costs in San Mateo County are largely the product of housing supply not keeping pace with demand, as more and more jobs have been added in and around the county. Between 2010 and 2016, for example, 79,000 new jobs were added with only 4,941 new units of housing. Because of such constrained housing availability, many workers must commute from across the region to jobs in San Mateo County, increasing traffic congestion region-wide. Home For All and other groups in the county, like SAMCAR, share the goal of increasing housing supply to alleviate these concerns. But, with more than three-quarters of San Mateo County being open space or agricultural, and over two-thirds of housing being single family residential, property owners and cities are now considering creative solutions to close the housing gap. Second units, often called Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs, are one way that many cities across the state are already adding housing within existing cities and neighborhoods.
Cole opened his presentation with Home For All's goal of not only adding more housing, but demistifying the sometimes confusing landscape of design, regulation, permitting and community input that property owners interested in adding a second unit may encounter. Home For All has created a website with a cost calculator, design guidelines, a resources workbook and more for property owners to explore their options for adding second units at secondunitconnectsmc.org — REALTORS® are encouraged to share this resource with interested property owners.
Along with more dense multi-family units, employee housing, and generally greater production of housing, second units offer a readily available solution to the limited housing supply in San Mateo County. Please see below for Cole's presentation slides and other resources for second units in San Mateo County.
Home For All Presentation Slides 
Presentation slides are for informational purposes only and shared with permission from Ken Cole, Director, San Mateo County Department of Housing.
Second Unit Resources
www.HomeforAllSMC.com
www.SecondUnitCenterSMC.org
@HomeforAllSMC on Twitter and Instagram
Terner Center for Housing Innovation | UC Berkeley: "ADU Update: Early Lessons and Impacts of California's State and Local Policy Changes"
