ADUs 101 Webinar for Napa & Sonoma County Homeowners
For those of you who missed our webinar, “ADUs 101 for Napa & Sonoma County Homeowners” never fear -- we’ve got the whole thing recorded and available right here for you on-demand (the video is also embedded below). This accessory dwelling unit webinar was a new format for us -- relevant to all 16 jurisdictions (aka all cities and the two unincorporated county regions) across both Napa & Sonoma counties.
We were joined by two local ADU Experts, Scott Johnson of Pocket Housing and Robin Stephani of 8th Wave, who gave us a terrific overview ADUs 101, including:
Types of ADUs
Overview of new ADU state laws
The money side of ADUs (cost, taxes & financing)
Overview of ADU development process
Design tips for ADUs
And more!
Plus, we were joined by a local homeowner, Pia, who just wrapped up a successful garage conversion ADU in Santa Rosa! We walked through the details of her experience including cost, financing, and the whole building process.
Finally, we held a live homeowner Q&A with the help of Scott, Robin, Pia and our statewide expert on ADU law and policy, Joshua Abrams of Baird + Driskell Community Planning.
Check out a brief index of content below if you’d like to skip to the parts of the recorded webinar that are most relevant to your ADU questions. To see the helpful slides that accompanied the webinar, just click here!
With nearly 800 homes destroyed or damaged, and more than 1,000 commercial and other structures burned (at time of publication) across Napa and Sonoma counties due to the Glass Fire, compounding the hundreds of homes lost in the LNU Complex fire just recently extinguished, the already existing need for housing in our communities has only deepened.
As we begin to rebuild together as a community coming out of these most recent tragedies, the nonprofit Napa Sonoma ADU Center is here to support homeowners better understand the ins and outs of accessory dwelling units (or ADUs, also known as granny flats, second units, or backyard cottages) to help build housing units for family members, teachers, nurses, firefighters, and others in need of homes.
Julia DeNatale, Vice President of Community Impact for Napa Valley Community Foundation shares, “We work side-by-side with local donors and nonprofits to tackle the most important challenges our Valley faces. Even as we respond to disasters by distributing millions of dollars for COVID-19 and wildfire relief, we are working to meet our present and future housing needs.”
Join us for future ADU webinars by registering for upcoming opportunities on our new Events page on our website! Our ADU Fall Webinar series continues into November through a partnership with Sonoma County’s Permit Sonoma on Thursday, November 12 and there will be even more webinars coming soon and listed on that same Events page.
The content in our ADU webinars is simply information, and is not legal advice regarding your specific ADU project. Keep in mind that local ADU rules change over time, and every homeowner’s ADU project and parcel is unique so always make sure to consult directly with your local city or county before diving into your ADU project.
ADUs 101 Webinar Content Index:
Minutes 1:00 - 15:20 | Napa Sonoma ADU Overview
Minutes 15:20 - 37:15 | ADUs 101:
Types of ADUs
Overview of new ADU state laws
The money side of ADUs (cost, taxes & financing)
Overview of ADU development process
Minutes 37:15 - 50:36 | Design tips for ADUs including custom vs. prefab/modular builds
Minutes 50:36 - 1:14:36 | Hear from a local ADU homeowner!
Minutes 1:14:36 - 1:30:20 | Audience Q&A with our panel of ADU experts