Shown is a digital rendition of one of the accessory dwelling units available through the City of Citrus Heights. Photo courtesy of City of Citrus Heights

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - It’s no secret that California is a wonderful but also an expensive place to live. Home prices regularly skyrocket, especially in the Sacramento region, which has many Bay Area and Southern California transplants.

With homeownership far from reach for many young people moving out on their own and wanting to start families and with many baby boomers finding themselves with larger, empty homes they no longer need, residents in the region are looking for solutions.

Citrus Heights is one city that has taken steps to help with their Permit-Ready Accessory Dwelling Unit Program (PRADU).

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) are smaller homes that are on the property of a usually larger, already established house. They have become popular in recent years, as some homeowners built them on their property to earn extra income by renting them out as vacation homes or to long-term tenants. However, accessory dwelling units also serve another more important purpose for many families as a way to stay together through both health and financial challenges.

In recent years, Citrus Heights has been leading the way when it comes to accessory dwelling units and city officials issued more permits for these accessory dwellings than surrounding cities last year.

According to Alison Bermudez, senior planner for the city of Citrus Heights, the city saw an opportunity back in 2016 when residents tried to bring aging family members closer to home. Wanting to live "close but not too close," an accessory dwelling unit made sense for these families who resided on properties with enough space to entertain the idea. But at the time, state regulations were hefty.

The City of Citrus Heights began relaxing some of these regulations, running ahead of the majority of other California municipalities. The state got on board in 2017 and regulations have been significantly reduced since then. Citrus Heights specifically has removed hurdles such as parking requirements and permit fees, which has led to an uptick of residents interested in acquiring such a property.

Citrus Heights is the perfect canvas for these builds. The square footage of properties is often larger than what you'd find in places like downtown Sacramento or rapidly growing suburban towns such as Roseville. Citrus Heights, recently receiving the Local Early Action Planning Grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, used that funding to come up with several accessory dwelling units plans that are easily accessible to residents.

"We worked with an engineer and designer to come up with pre-approved plans - several different models," Bermudez said. "The plans have been prepared, been through review and meet all the codes. They are available for free and they [the residents] don't have to hire a designer and architect."

Homeowners still have to pay a permit that ranges from $1,000 to $2,000 but the plan preparation and costs are free, potentially saving a family thousands of dollars. The Permit-Ready Accessory Dwelling Unit Program started in July 2021 with the program goal leading to about 10 builds. Ten ended up being completed that year alone and a total of 18 total have come to completion.

"We received a lot of inquiries and saw the need," Bermudez said. "The need we were hearing was people wanted to stay living here but needed to keep their parents here. Or reverse and the kids were having a tough time and needed to come back home."

After programming was up and running, city officials held a webinar and taught resident how to go through the process and what to expect. An informative guidebook is also available online, which helps explain the process and what challenges a homeowner will need to work through.

"This can be a scary process. The guidebook is helpful," Bermudez said.

Bermudez acknowledged that there are “definitely some challenges” for those interested in building an accessory dwelling unit. Getting over the financial hurdle is a big one, as many desiring such a project cannot wait two to three years to bring a family member home. Banks and traditional construction loans were also not prepared for financing accessory dwelling unis, although this is starting to change and improve.

When asked what challenges the city faces, Bermudez is optimistic.

"I can’t think of a hurdle we have,” Bermudez said. “We have tried to stay nimble and adjust as we saw the times changing."

The city plans to offer more permit-ready programs as funding allows and hopes to create additional designs and bigger models for families to choose from. Those interested in exploring the process of accessory dwelling units can visit the city's website at citrusheights.net/aducentral or call 916-727-4740.