A Coronado Guest House
Locals know the quest; many of us have made the quest or have helped our friends on the quest. What is this quintessential Coronado quest? It’s the search for the illusive “back house.” Charming, small, inexpensive, empty, in back of a grandmother’s house that she never uses. The one you find because you know a friend of a friend of a friend. That little casita or carriage house that could be rented for a song.
Or perhaps we have been on the other side of the equation. Wouldn’t it be nice to rent out our back house and earn a little extra income? We ask ourselves, “I wonder if I could legally rent it?”
Or we have been in the middle; frustrated about density in Coronado. Not wanting to cause our neighbors any hassle, but at the same time, tired of not being able to find parking on our own street, because the single family lots are really supporting two families…and their cars.
David Adams, owner of Coronado’s Martial Arts America, tells a heartbreaking story. His mother, who is 70, grew up in a home that is zoned for a single-family residence. In other words, is it zoned as either R1A or R1B. On the property there is a back house and renters have always lived in that back house, since David’s mother was a young girl. David’s mother needs the rental income to support herself. The current tenant, at 80, is happy and content where she lives.
Unfortunately, an electrician, trying to help David’s mother find a way to split the electrical bill, inadvertently alerted the city that there was a property being rented in the back. The city came to investigate and discovered that the back house is not a legal rental. David’s mother was told that the tenant must move out and modifications must be done to restore the back house to the garage it once was. 80-year-old widow has to move out, 70-year-old widow on fixed income loses income. While the density concerns in town are valid, is this really the way the community wants to reduce density? Probably not.
Are the folks at City Hall a bunch of scrooges? A batch of bureaucratic meanies? No. They are, however, bound to uphold the zoning laws, especially when notified of a potential violation. Keep in mind, they aren’t prowling the streets looking for illegal rentals. Coronado City Councilman Richard Bailey explains, “The city isn’t searching garage to garage looking for conversions; however, if a neighbor notices an illegal use of property or city staff notices while conducting other city business they will take appropriate action to have the use stopped.”
Unfortunately, sometimes good people are getting caught in the crossfire. Individual situations are complex and can lead to a bureaucratic nightmare. The larger issue is that most residents want less density and in fact, the city’s hands are tied in their ability to reduce density due to state mandates. If the city wanted to change density zoning in one part of town, they would have to make up for it in another.
Curious to know if you back house could be a legal rental? I spoke with John Swanson, assistant planner, in the Community Development Department for the City of Coronado, and he had the following information to share:
To rent a back house in areas zoned for a single family home (zones R1A and R1B), the building permit would have to indicate the following to be legal:
The back house must be identified as a “dwelling” in the original building permit or it must be identified as converted to a “dwelling” in subsequent building permits. (As in “garage converted to a dwelling,” or “garage demolished to build a dwelling.”)
If you build a guest house or a carriage house and your parcel is not zoned for a separate rental, you have to sign a covenant with the city promising that you will not rent it out. Finally, if a structure on your parcel, such as a back house is inspected, and found not in compliance with it’s building permit, you will have to return the structure back to its permitted use. For example, return a former garage back to a garage.
So, with an unknown number of out-of-compliance back house rentals already in use throughout Coronado, what is the solution? How can the character of the town preserved, and the appropriate density levels maintained, without creating situations that cause 80-year-old widows to be unexpectedly searching for a new home?
One interesting idea, adopted by other cities, is to investigate for illegal back houses at the point of sale of the house. When a house goes on the market for sale, an inspection would be done to determine if any of the structures (i.e. back house) on the parcel is not in compliance with it’s building permit. If it is not, the structure would have to be returned to the use indicated on the building permit before the sale could be completed. Coronado does not have the policy now.
Despite all these issues, it’s clear that everyone wants the best for Coronado. Residents, elected officials, and city staff all come together to create a hometown in which we all want to live.
What should be done about existing back house rentals that aren’t in compliance with current zoning regulations? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
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Ann Marie Bryan
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
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