At Tuesday's March 26th Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board approved an ordinance to incentivize the development and use of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) as a strategy towards addressing the statewide affordable housing crisis and providing long term housing for residents of Nevada County.
In September 2017, the Board gave direction to staff to provide recommendations on the County's policy around ADUs by researching restrictions on short term rentals, owner occupancy requirements, smaller allowable square footage and lower fees. Recommendations created by Planning staff were reviewed by the Planning Commission in August 2018 and came before the Board in September 2018. At this meeting, the Board decided to wait to pass the ordinance until Mountain Housing Council released their report analyzing the impact of short-term rentals in the Truckee area.
With Tuesday's vote, ADUs constructed after the effective date of the ordinance (April 26, 2019) are prohibited as short term rentals (defined as less than 30 days), with exceptions for Agritourism, the Soda Springs Rural Center and the Town of Truckee Sphere of Influence; owner occupancy requirements were removed allowing both units to be rentals; deferrals for road and sewer mitigation fees are available when the ADU is restricted for very-low or low income individuals or under 800 square feet; wastewater disposal requirements are clarified; and the restriction of ADUs on parcels with employee housing has been removed.
