February News from The Napa Sonoma ADU Center
Share the Love, with an ADU!
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, I’ve been doing some thinking about love. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about how we can foster a sense of community, mutual aid, and love during a time when our neighbors, families, and friends here in Napa and Sonoma Counties are struggling with the double-punch of a global pandemic and the subsequent economic implications.
Interestingly, it is an accessory dwelling unit that has brought the most love into my own family’s life during this troubling time -- and I know the same has been true for many others. I know, this is a convenient story for the Director of a nonprofit focused on encouraging homeowners to build ADUs - but it’s true! As many of you have heard from me before, my husband and I live in an above garage accessory dwelling unit on my mother’s property in West Sonoma County. It was pure coincidence that we moved here in March 2020, just as the seriousness of the pandemic was really coming to light.
But what a serendipitous coincidence of timing it was -- we moved in just as we realized that my 77 year old mother should not be trekking about in grocery stores willy-nilly and also just as many other seniors in our community were becoming tragically isolated from family and friends due to shelter-in-place guidelines.
Thanks to my mother’s ADU, throughout the pandemic crisis my husband and I could live on the same property with her and easily take care of her grocery shopping, not to mention spend time together safely as a family. Plus, we can share some living expenses across our households such as internet, phone, and many groceries -- which lessens the sting of the economic implications of the pandemic on our family a bit.
When we learned that my husband and I were expecting this spring, we also realized that thanks to our multi-generational living arrangement in my mother’s ADU we would have the benefit of some built-in support with childcare and cooking, to boot.
This rise in multi-generational living is not limited to my family’s story -- in fact, as the New York Times reported this weekend, it reflects a growing nationwide trend: “the number of adults living on the same property with their parents or grandparents was close to its 1950 peak again by 2016, at 20 percent of the American population.”
And COVID-19 has further accelerated this move towards multi-generational living. “The pandemic has forced people to look at nursing homes and ask themselves, ‘Do we need more housing options for older people?’ And the answer is yes,” said Rodney Harrell, who develops AARP’s policy on housing. “We don’t have the right mix of available housing for older people with varying levels of needs, and A.D.U.s are a way to help us fill in those gaps.”
Major historical events such as the global pandemic often cause us to re-evaluate our lifestyle and living choices -- and COVID-19 is no different. Housing experts expect a surge in ADU builds, and in California this is especially true given the January 2020 laws that make builds easier for local homeowners.
I hope you’ll join us here at the Napa Sonoma ADU Center as we come together with homeowners and city staff in the towns of Sebastopol and Healdsburg for webinars on how to build accessory dwelling units in those communities (register here). Plus, if you missed last month’s webinar on How to Finance Your ADU, the recording is now available on-demand!
We’re also excited to be featured by the Casita Coalition in their new monthly webinar series highlighting Best Practices in the world of ADUs, along with Permit Sonoma and featuring keynote speaker Senator Mike McGuire -- you can register to join us here!
And check out our latest blog posts below, featuring our library of the local ADU rules in all 16 jurisdictions across Napa and Sonoma Counties as well as seven reasons why the time to build your ADU is now -- not later!
This Valentine’s Day, I’ll be celebrating the love that brings our communities in Napa and Sonoma County closer as we navigate, together, the unique challenges of these times. Thanks for joining us, and remember that we are here to answer your ADU questions, anytime.
Warmly,
Renée J. Schomp
Director, Napa Sonoma ADU Center
Neighbor Spotlight:
Erica’s Story: Building an ADU for mom in Santa Rosa
Erica and her partner were evaluating options for Erica’s mom, who was commuting 1,000 miles per month due to not being able to find affordable housing in Santa Rosa. Ultimately, building an ADU on their property gave Erica’s mom her own space while keeping her close to her daughter and grandchildren and removing her timely and costly commute, which allows her to live and work in the community.
““It is an investment in yours and the community’s future.””
Give to Napa Valley Community Foundation
If you would like to support our nonprofit program’s continued efforts to help homeowners in Napa and Sonoma Counties, please feel free to do so at this link (to our fiscal sponsor, Napa Valley Community Foundation) where you can designate it to the Napa Sonoma ADU Center.