Poll: Little interest in building granny units

A majority of respondents to an online Argus-Courier poll said that they are not considering building granny units on their property, despite the city relaxing regulations to encourage more building.|

A majority of respondents to an online Argus-Courier poll said that they are not considering building granny units on their property, despite the city relaxing regulations to encourage more building.

Here are some comments:

“I cannot afford the expense. It is quite expensive in today’s market to build even a small dwelling. And harder to find tenants who will take excellent care of a rental unit.”

“I wish I could. I think the unit I’d add would be a benefit to the community. But the ordinance doesn’t go far enough to allow my particular situation to work.”

“The greedy developers have not left me much land to build a life changing, income generating granny unit.”

“Very few homes here in Petaluma qualify for this new policy. Virtually no subdivision homes such as the entire east Petaluma fall into this plan.”

“We had a house at the end of a culdesac with lots of privacy until the next door neighbors built a granny unit as close to the fence as allowed. Several windows then looked straight into our yard and any noise was amplified, literally a cough next door would bounce off our house back to theirs. We moved as the granny totally changed the ambiance of our yard.”

“When my kids move out (please, please god help them move out one day!) we’ll turn our basement into a granny unit. Besides providing a good investment, I feel an obligation to create more affordable housing in my own backyard.”

“This will only create more density, noise, cars as well as loss of privacy.”

“Yes, to supplement the high cost of living and taxes in Sonoma County.”

“There is no space to build on.”

“I live in mobile home park, so no. But it is a great idea.”

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.