Goleta Seeks Granny Flat Concepts for Pre-Approval

One of the quicker ways to add to California’s much-needed housing is through granny flats, or accessory dwelling units (ADUs), the small, stand-alone homes that occupy many backyards. The City of Goleta — which has seen 62 ADUs go up since 2019 — is in the process of making these structures go up more easily by seeking designs to preapprove, as required in Assembly Bill 1332.

The designs would build a home of 250-850 square feet and no more than 16 feet tall, per city regulations. If the home is within a half-mile of major transit, the height can rise to 18-20 feet. Submitted plans will be evaluated by the city’s Design Review Board in a public meeting on December 10, 3:30 p.m. Each approved plan would then go through Building Plan review.

Preapproved plans would have to submit full architectural plans, but the public would choose from among drawings or designs viewed on a single sheet of paper. The designer or architect would then sell the complete plans to the homeowner. The price is up to the designer, the city said, adding that they had not yet decided how many plans to accept.

Plans will be accepted through November 18, noon, at PreapprovedADU@cityofgoleta.org. The design review fee is $1,734, and the building plan fee will be based on the valuation of the project at the time of review.

Once approved, the plans will be posted at the city’s Planning and Environmental Review webpage. Other pre-construction costs would be site plans, soils report, site preparation, building permitting, and the ancillary costs pertinent to each site.

Questions? Check with Kathy Allen, supervising senior planner (kallen@cityofgoleta.org) or Christina McGuire, associate planner (cmcguire@cityofgoleta.org).