Close to Home: A long and costly journey to build one granny unit

Creating housing is difficult in Sonoma County. Here is our story.

In an effort to create a living space for our son, we sought to build a granny unit, a modest 700-square-foot, single-bedroom unit that would be 100 percent compliant with Santa Rosa codes. Since we own a half-acre property on which this could readily go, this should be simple, right? Not so.

We worked with three designers, all of whom led us to believe the project was within our budget, selecting one who seemed to get it that this was to be a simple, low-cost unit.

I checked with the Santa Rosa Planning Department. The staff explained the process and required fees. All seemed good.

We got the plans drawn and took them for plan check. I paid the fees and then learned that because part of the unit was more than 100 feet from the street, a Fire Department check would be needed, requiring an extra set of plans and an extra fee.

We then learned a geoengineering report (“soils report”) was needed. Our designer had said one would not be needed, and the city staff hadn't said anything earlier. It's on the city's website that if the building is more than 500 square feet, a soils report is needed. So this added a few thousand dollars and a few weeks.

Quotes for the basic construction started coming in at $250,000 to $350,000. That's without the $100,000 or so for the other costs. These were nothing like the budget.

After putting the project on hold, we investigated getting a manufactured home. A basic unit costs about $40,000, and one with upgrades costs $60,000.

New plans went back to the city for the manufactured home. The staff was very cooperative about the change. Because manufactured homes fall under Federal Housing Administration oversight, fire sprinklers were no longer required, saving about $5,000.

When the final Fire Department check was done, we went in to pull the permit. Not so fast. We had to wait for the overall permit to be declared “ready.”

Paying the school fees meant getting a form from the city, going to the school district office, paying fees and then taking the form back to the city.

We then had to execute an agreement that an owner of the property would occupy either the house or the granny unit. It takes the county recorder many weeks to mail the recorded document, even though recorded documents are “done” at 8 a.m. the following morning. This required another trip across town and a small cost.

With our clay soils, we ended up with foundations three feet into the ground and running 18 inches above ground - a very solid building. Five cubic yards of excavated clay ended up on the lawn area, so we have a replanting project later.

Tree work needed to be done as well as coordination with PG&E to get the manufactured home under a tree and to prevent interference with the power lines. We also had to remove a shed and pump house and clear 20 feet of space so the home could be placed beside the foundation before being rolled over.

Early in May, the truck, escorts and crew showed up with the home. A few hours later, it was sitting next to the foundation. A week later, the home was over the foundation and a few days later, it was on the foundation.

Since we were connecting to the city water, we had conflicting information about whether we needed an encroachment permit. It turned out we did. And, oops, this took another three weeks.

Then, the water meter request required an additional week, although the water crew did that in one day.

Eight weeks into the installation, the process slammed to a stop. The city couldn't find one of our forms on file, despite two confirmed copies previously being delivered and reviewed. This required another trip to City Hall by the contractor to help locate the form.

A week later, the natural gas was connected and, a few days later, the unit was ready: 10 weeks from modular home delivery to occupancy. One more back-and-forth trip across town, and the final form was filed. Whew!

So what does it cost to build a 694-square-foot home in Santa Rosa this way? It was roughly $150,000 and a year of time. Here's the tally: $60,000 for the home; $50,000 for the foundation, utility lines and unit preparation on site; $30,000 for city water hookup, sewer, plan check, inspection, park, capital and city schools impact fees; and $10,000 for other costs. That's only if you already own the land, as we did, and there is already a primary unit connected to sewer and water.

In short: there are no cheap, easy and legal answers to creating additional housing in Sonoma County.

Michael Von der Porten, a long-time Santa Rosa resident, is a semi-retired finance and operations professional who worked in the high-tech and wine industries.