Embrace The Constraints (heck, go ahead and fall in love with it)
I know I said no lecturing as an architect, but my professional alter-ego (think Edna from the Incredibles) just can’t help it. Ladies and gentleman, I know you all hate constraints: hate it that we only have 24hrs a day, hate it that we can’t eat cake and lose weight too, and hate it that we must age and die. But having limits is what gives everything meaning. So I am giving you my honest advice on how to start any project when I say: embrace limits and constraints and actively seek out rules and regulations and anything that will give your project parameters and framework. Fortunately, government jurisdictions typically give all the basic (and comprehensive) constraints to start. These days cities give out informational handouts with all the basic rules - ADUs or otherwise, right on their websites. Here is an example ADU handout from the City of San Jose. Required setbacks, maximum height, maximum square footage, and sometimes even the submittal process are all defined upfront....