MOORPARK : Ban on ‘Granny Flats’ Is Lifted for Larger Lots

The Moorpark City Council has exempted homeowners with lots larger than one acre from the present moratorium on building so-called “granny flats.”

The council voted 4 to 0 Wednesday to amend the moratorium on granny flats that had been established two weeks ago.

Homeowners with large lots will be free to apply for permits to add apartments to their houses or construct a second home on their property.

Homeowners whose lots are smaller than one acre will have to wait until the City Council lifts the moratorium, probably in about two months.

City officials said they need time to tighten their ordinance on granny flats, which have been flourishing in the downtown area.

Since most downtown lots are smaller than one acre, officials said they could accomplish their purpose by applying the moratorium only to smaller lots.

Councilman Bernardo M. Perez said the city’s existing granny-flat ordinance was intended to allow people to build second dwelling units for grandparents or other relatives.

But some homeowners are building such units to rent them to non-relatives, he said.

When they are concentrated in one area, granny flats can create noise, traffic and parking problems, he said.

“As much as I’m an advocate for affordable housing, there’s a real problem when you end up with a significant number of these lots,” Perez said.

“You are in a dramatic way changing a single-family neighborhood into a multifamily neighborhood.”