ME:  I’m Ira Belgrade, owner and founder of YimbyLA!  MYSELF:  A Los Angeles homeowner.  ME:  Accessory Dwelling Unit activist. 

I’m the first person in Los Angeles to permit their unpermitted rented guest house into a legal Accessory Dwelling Unit under California’s new state laws (which I helped to get passed…but more on that later). Like many of you, I flew under the radar for years, until someone (was it YOU?!) reported me to the city for having an illegal rental unit.

I was cited by the city and given an “Order To Comply” and experienced the 7 stages of Order to Comply grief:  

I was not about to lose my much needed rental income but the only option available to me at the time was to apply for a variance…with absolutely no guarantee of getting approved!  But I found out that I wasn’t alone.  There were thousands out there like me with unpermitted rental units because outdated local zoning regulations didn’t allow them.  Then I heard about Senator Bob Wieckowski’s bill SB 1069 and Assemblymember Richard Bloom’s bill AB 2299 and I knew there was hope!  Finally there was legislation on the state level that would help people like me have a legal rental unit in their backyard without having to jump thru the impossible hoops of local zoning regulations and the impossible uncertain process of a variance.  Not only would thousands like myself be helped but so would California’s depleted housing stock.  I began writing letters and making calls, I started a Change.Org petition to support the bills and I organized and coordinated phone calls to legislators to support the bills, which passed and were signed into law by Gov. Brown.  Throughout my three year journey/process, I helped many others along the way and learned a lot…so much that I was asked to contribute to the California Department of Housing and Community Development Memorandum on Accessory Dwelling Units.  Now I’ve started YimbyLA! as a business to help others.  While the ability to create an ADU is available now to everyone in California, it’s still a process that can be time consuming, confusing and costly.

YimbyLA! will give you a written, detailed, specific plan for you to follow for your individual property to help you get your legal ADU. And if you wish, YimbyLA! can help you , step by step, thru the entire process.

 

Click Here to contact me!