Bear with me-this is going to take a bit for me to connect the dots to my point. We have posted on several occasions about the need for caregivers as the Boomers continue their aging trek. We’ve also blogged about the shortage of caregivers and the impact caregiving has on family members.  With me so far? So, it would seem logical that we want to make it as easy as possible for caregivers to provide care. In many instances for the family caregivers do this, the family lives together, whether the parent moves in with the adult kids or vice versa. In other instances, the home may be remodeled to make it appropriate for multi-generational families.  In others, the caregivers add to their property with an auxiliary dwelling unit or ADU (popularly known as a  granny flat), a medical-cottage, or even converts their garage into a “mother-in-law” apartment.  

Still with me? So, when remodeling, we may need a permit. When we are adding a building, renovating or bringing in an ADU or med-cottage, we may run afoul of zoning ordinances, when zoning is for single families. Hopefully local governments, understanding the need for caregiving, would be willing to grant variances for this, although there are cases where the contrary has occurred.

So this is all a lead up to a recent story in the Washington Post. The Next big Fight Over Housing Could Happen, Literally, In Your Back Yard opens with the story of a couple who had built their home in their daughter’s back yard. Here’s what happened:

They were just finishing the place when a lawsuit earlier this year against the city of Los Angeles brought permits for homes like theirs — second units on single-family lots — to a halt. As a result, city officials who gave them permission to build now haven’t given them a certificate of occupancy, and the utility won’t connect them to the power grid.

Second homes, often called “granny flats,” have become a new front in the conflict that pits the need for more housing in the country’s most expensive cities against the wishes of neighbors who want to preserve their communities. The same battles flare over large developments that might loom over single-family neighborhoods. But even this modest idea for new housing — let homeowners build it in their own back yards — has run into not-in-my-back-yard resistance.

And the difficulty of implementing even such a small-scale solution shows why it will be hard to make room in crowded cities for the middle- and working-class households who increasingly struggle to afford to live there.

Not only do these “second homes” help caregivers live in proximity to the elder, these second homes could also alleviate housing shortages according to the article.  So what’s the objection?  “Many neighbors, though, protest that a glut of back yard building would spoil the character of neighborhoods designed around the American ideal of one family on one lot surrounded by verdant lawn. They fear that more residents will mean less parking. And they question whether small homes, particularly in wealthier neighborhoods with the most room to build them, would really constitute affordable housing.”

Do these concerns really apply if the purpose is to provide caregiving to a family member? I realize that it’s difficult to separate out second housing units designed as rental income from second houses designed for caregiving. The article notes that several cities are considering revisions to their zoning ordinances, primarily to address the need for more affordable housing.  But let’s not forget about the caregivers and their parents. Let’s make it as convenient as possible for them to provide care, even if it is just to allow the temporary installation of ADUs or medical cottages.