Desk Item 6-23-2020 PC meetingFrom:Connie Cunningham
To:Kitty Moore; R Wang; Vikram Saxena; Alan Takahashi; David Fung; City of Cupertino Planning Commission
Cc:City of Cupertino Planning Dept.
Subject:2020 6-23 PC meeting, Agenda Item 2, Study Session, ADU- Three Ideas
Date:Tuesday, June 23, 2020 4:29:41 PM
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2020 6-23 PC meeting, Agenda Item 2, Study Session, update on ADU implementation
Dear Chair, Vice-Chair, and Commissioners:
I want to commend the City Staff for their report on ideas included in the ADU Ordinance 20-
2199 that will make it easier and less costly to build ADU’s in Cupertino.
Residents Want ADU’s:
The fact that residents want and need ADU’s is shown in the increased numbers of new
ADU’s built in 2020 to date, as presented in the Staff Report.
Senior-friendly
a. ADU’s allow homeowners to create living spaces that grow with them as they age. See
Recommendation 1 below.
Sustainability: ADU’s make our city more sustainable by:
a. creating more varied housing types for younger residents, and those with less income. See
Recommendations 2 and 3 below.
b. reducing traffic since residents of ADU’s can use bicycles for transportation to nearby work
& schools
c. impacting the environment less in many ways, from smaller size to fitting in with the
neighborhoods
Recommendations:
1. I urge the Planning Commission to ask Staff to include at least one design with age and
accessibility requirements in mind. By designing these features into an ADU, it will not need
to be remodeled later and will be less costly in the long run.
2. I urge the Planning Commission to ask Staff to structure a grant or non-monetary incentive
program for homeowners who would like to offer long term rentals to low-income residents.
In exchange for the incentives, the homeowner would sign a deed restriction.
3. Consider reducing or eliminating pre-construction and construction fees that make it costly
to build ADU’s.
Our June 5, 2020, Cupertino City Resolution states:
The City of Cupertino demands that Black Lives Matter;...
The City of Cupertino encourages the community to stand together through peaceful
exchange and discourse to enact change and move forward toward a future with more
equity and inclusion in Cupertino, California, and our country.
Sincerely,
Connie L Cunningham
Housing Commissioner (self-only)
I have lived here 33 years