Applicants requesting to rent out such units will not have to undergo as lengthy a review process anymore, but they may have to rent their units at lower prices. Secondary units are defined as units that include partial kitchen and bathroom facilities, that measure at least 150 square feet and that exist on the same parcel as a single-family residence.

Forced to comply with state Assembly Bill 1866, local governments can no longer exercise discretion but must implement a ministerial process when reviewing an applicant's request to rent out a secondary unit. What this means is that the town can no longer hold public hearings nor require applicants to obtain conditional use permits. This law goes into effect July 1.

Proponents of the bill argued that municipal governments have in the past placed unnecessary conditions and obstacles in the application process, causing the state to not meet its housing needs.

Changes to the town code to reflect compliance with the state law have not been officially adopted, though the proposed changes are recommended by the planning commission. The town council will consider the issue June 16.

The mention of architecture and site-approval requirements for rental units in the existing town code must be deleted because it represents a discretionary review of an application. However, the town can still incorporate into its revised ordinance such design standards as parking, height, setback, lot coverage, architectural review and the maximum size of a unit.

The proposed ordinance also requires property owners who rent out their secondary units to deed restrict those units at below-market price. Such units are typically rented to people with low income at a reduced rate.

"It's not a state requirement; it's part of the town's housing goals that are set forth in the housing element to provide affordable housing," said Community Development Director Bud Lortz. "By deed restricting these units, we would be in compliance with General Plan policy."

"The primary goal here is to make sure they're rented at affordable levels," he said. This goal, however, presented the planning commission with concerns about forcing property owners to only rent to people who fall into the low-income bracket.

Commission Vice Chair Jeanne Drexel made the motion to recommend that the town council adopt an ordinance whereby the units must be rented at a reduced value, but property owners retain the right to rent to whomever they want. This would permit them to rent to relatives or friends who otherwise don't meet the low-income requirement.

Lee Quintana, the only commissioner to vote against this motion, said renting to a relative should be permissible, but otherwise, allowing anyone—not just those with actual low income—to rent defeats the purpose of affordable housing.

"My goal is to provide affordable units for people who need affordable units, but at the same time not make the requirements so onerous that we would discourage anybody from providing these affordable units," she said.

Lortz warned against making explicit reference to family members in the ordinance since there are ongoing legal battles over the definition of "family."

Quintana also hesitated to approve the "hard to understand" ordinance, which she said she had to reread 15 times.