Opinion: Accessory Dwelling Units Will Benefit San Antonio

A San Antonio Report piece by Jim Bailey argues in favor of reforming the city’s regulations governing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to make it easier for homeowners to build ‘granny flats’ and meet the changing needs of families. As Bailey states, “Currently, our city’s development code allows homeowners to build ADUs, but outdated restrictions make it difficult for owners to build them. Removing these barriers should be part of a larger strategy that looks at how San Antonio can grow responsibly.”

According to Bailey, “San Antonio added more residents than any other city in the country last year, and is projected to add a million more by 2050.” Bailey offers one possible solution. “One simple thing we can do to build resilience in neighborhoods like we used to have is to make it easier to build modest accessory dwelling units.” Bailey highlights the benefits of ADUs: the ability for multigenerational families to live together while maintaining privacy and autonomy, an opportunity for renters to live affordably in neighborhoods previously inaccessible to them, a source of income for homeowners, and an affordable option for seniors who want to “age in place” in their neighborhoods.

In San Antonio, Bailey writes, “Our Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing Development & Preservation Subcommittee, as instructed by our Council-adopted Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, has been working on a series of code changes that make sensitive insertions of modest ADUs into neighborhoods a little easier to achieve.” These include reduced restrictions on ADU occupancy, uniform height limits, and a clear metric for allowable square footage. 

While Bailey and housing advocates recognize that boosting ADU construction is by no means a silver bullet for solving the housing crisis, “the proposed amendments help ameliorate growing housing pressures” in a fast-growing city.