Open Question: How to legally do a tempory room addition?
I need an extra bedroom so my boys don’t have to share now that they’re older. A room addition might be in order, except that the elder boy will be striking off on his own in a couple years. I wouldn’t like to be saddled with the extra maintenance, cleaning and property tax for the next twenty years just for a few years use of the room.
I do have a couple of 120 SF storage rooms off the garage. At first, I thought I could just add the proper window, a smoke detector, a heater and A/C to convert it to a bedroom. It doesn’t open into the interior of the house. Just an outside walkway, but that’s something we could live with.
But the man at Building and Safety said “no” to the conversion. His “reason” was something vague about density and a small lot. He declined to elaborate. It’s an 800 SF house on a 6000 SF lot. Half the homes in town are twice our size on the same size lot. I suspect his real reason is that we have a problem locally with multiple families illegally subdividing single family homes. He probably suspects that, since it’s separate from the main house, it would be inhabited inappropriately.
B&S did say that a formal room addition was possible. Which leads to my question. Are temporary room additions ever permitted? And demolished when they’re no longer needed? If so, what kind of construction is best? What kind of foundation can be installed that’s easily removed? Is the assessed value reduced back to its former value when the room addition is taken away?
There’s only a 7′ wide access walkway to the back yard, so a trailer isn’t a possibility. But if there’s some kind of manufactured home that breaks down to panels, that might be ideal.
What do other people do in cases like this? Both construction-wise and with regard to permits? We’re in Ventura County, CA, but advice in broad strokes, without getting into specific local details, would be helpful.
Thanks!
