BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council was split tonight (Aug. 17) over allowing homeowners to build and sell larger backyard cottages.
Backyard cottages — also known as accessory dwelling units or ADUs — will be allowed up to 1,200 square feet.
Council voted 4-3 to have the city’s Planning and Transportation Commission vet the idea of allowing homeowners to sell ADUs separately from the main home.
Mayor Vicki Veenker, Vice Mayor Greer Stone and Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims were ready tonight to allow ADUs to be sold separately.
“Why not be a little bit braver and a little bit bolder when it comes to experimenting with ADUs as a path to home ownership?” Lythcott-Haims said.
Councilmen Pat Burt, Ed Lauing and Keith Reckdahl wanted to go slower.
“Rushing through substantive changes from the dais without having (the commission’s) more thoughtful input is unnecessary,” Burt said.
Councilman George Lu ended up joining Burt, Lauing and Reckdahl, with the condition that the commission’s recommendation return to council by the end of the year.
Further to the above comment: I suggest holding incumbents to a higher standard. With incumbents, voters have had the opportunity to see if their advocacy and votes align with what they said during their campaign, a chance to witness their ability to do the job, a chance to see if they consistently pursue what is in the best interests of the community, the opportunity to see if they are in the position to serve the public or to serve their own political interests, a chance to see if they come to meetings prepared to have productive discussions, a chance to see if they abuse their position in any way, and the opportunity to see if they genuinely listen to public comments or just tolerate them. Incumbency and purchased name recognition are not good measures for electing someone to a position of responsibility. We are seeing poor performance at all levels of government. There’s no getting around the fact that we, as voters, bear some responsibility for that.
Allowing people to build and then sell an ADU on their lot is one of the most ridiculous ideas I’ve ever heard of. There are far too many potential problems to even begin to start listing them. An absolutely asinine situation to even consider. But I’m not surprised we are seeing it here first.