Campbell homeowners applying for a tiny home could get city approval in days.
Campbell launched an express backyard home permit process this month that shortens approval time to a week or less — the fastest in Santa Clara County where approvals can average between two to three months. The city is accepting two qualifying applications a week for backyard homes, known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The city has achieved the speedy process by prioritizing and processing ADU applications separately with dedicated planners.
Projects that don’t qualify for the expedited process include ADUs on properties with historic homes, sites with code violations and granny flats bigger than 800 square feet attached to existing houses in the Campbell Village and San Tomas neighborhoods.
Community Development Director Rob Eastwood said the process aims to make it easier to build ADUs in Campbell, creating more housing options in a city that doesn’t have much space for new development. He wants it to be a model for other jurisdictions.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to get more housing on the market,” Eastwood told San José Spotlight. “These are very popular and kind of an easy way for homeowners just to put secondary homes on their property. Why not just do everything we can can to push them through as fast as possible?”
Redwood City-based Samara is the first company to use the new process. Sam Pratt, vice president of construction, said the company submitted plans and received city approval in four days.
“An expedited timeline and simplified application process are game-changers for homeowners looking to build ADUs on their properties without delays,” he told San José Spotlight. “We’re committed to helping homeowners navigate the complexities of ADU construction, and this program is a key part of making that journey faster and easier in Campbell.”
The speedy approvals are aided by another recent tool, Community Planning Collaborative’s ADU plans gallery. The gallery gives homeowners interested in backyard homes access to pre-approved plans in 10 municipalities countywide. The gallery was implemented this winter to comply with Assembly Bill 1332, a state law requiring local jurisdictions to have a pre-approval process for ADU plans and an online tool connecting homeowners with designers by 2025.
The process helps Campbell’s housing goals. The city must build at least 2,977 homes, 1,186 of which must be deemed affordable to low-income residents, by 2031 to meet state requirements. Campbell approved 70 granny flats last year, according to city data.
Alan Zisser, planning commissioner and housing advocate, said ADUs might not tackle that number as much as an affordable apartment complex, but are still valuable under Campbell’s holistic approach to housing.
“ADUs are one piece of it — a small piece of it — but every little bit helps,” he told San José Spotlight.
Neighboring cities have also focused on making their permitting process easier. Last July, the San Jose City Council unanimously approved streamlining its energy approval process for ADUs. San Jose has issued thousands of permits since launching its pre-approval process in 2019, but Campbell’s new timeframe is faster.
Campbell Councilmember Elliot Scozzola supports the city’s efforts to get rid of housing barriers.
“Residents deciding to build an ADU are a key factor in helping to meet the housing needs of our community and so I’m really excited about Campbell cutting unnecessary bureaucracy to accelerate development,” he told San José Spotlight.
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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