Monterey studies whether to allow renting out secondary units.

With limited water, real estate and funds to build affordable housing, the city of Monterey is looking for ways to increase its housing stock. One option the city is examining would legalize the renting of existing secondary, or “junior” units, in neighborhoods currently zoned for single families. These units include detached guest houses and apartments within existing single family homes.

“We have lots of under-utilized housing in our neighborhoods. Simply allowing homeowners to rent guest houses and secondary units would put a lot more housing on the market,” Monterey City Councilman Timothy Barrett says.

He’s been at the forefront of pushing the city to do more to promote affordable housing, at times controversially.

Monterey city planners are studying the impact of allowing junior units to be rented, after Barrett and a group of residents worked to add five amendments to the city’s Housing Element – a state-mandated plan for Monterey’s housing needs over the next eight years.

The Planning Commission approved those amendments, but the City Council struck down the changes March 23, with Barrett outvoted 4-1.

Instead, the council directed the Planning Department to study the five issues and report back in six months.

On top of renting out secondary units, the other items being studied are: converting hotels into residential units; decoupling parking requirements from projects that include affordable housing; determining how to enforce a ban on short-term rentals; and how to best regulate the impact short-term rentals, like Airbnb, have on the housing market.

Back at the March 23 meeting, City Councilman Ed Smith chastised Barrett for going behind the council’s back by working with residents to create the amendments.

Monterey Principal Planner Elizabeth Caraker told the Council the state had reviewed the draft housing element and the process and found no violations.

Advocates of secondary units include Katherine Thoeni, executive director of the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers, and Ted Balestreri, chair of the Monterey County Hospitality Association, who say the city’s neighborhoods could provide more housing.

Mike Dawson, a city planning commissioner and president of the Alta Mesa Neighborhood Association, opposes to secondary units in single-family areas.

“The history has shown when New Monterey did that, only five or six new units opened up and the neighbors hated it,” Dawson says. “It creates traffic and parking problems, plus people don’t want strangers in their neighborhoods.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the following correction. Monterey City Attorney Christine Davi did not present an opinion on Councilmember Timothy Barrett's involvement in adding amendments to the housing element. Instead, Monterey Principal Planner Elizabeth Caraker told the Council the state had reviewed the draft housing element and its process and found no violations.