It is important to understand and clarify what standards your public utilities are using for “capacity” and “demand”. The existing lines may have capacity for additional units, but the engineers may like to have additional breathing room. How is your demand being calculated (i.e. dwelling square footage, number of fixtures, etc.) and does that match the dwellings being built and/or the demographics of your community. It is important to have a data backed conversation on what the existing capacity is, what current demand is and what future demand will be created with the additional ADU’s.

For example, the sewer lines may be designed to have capacity for 8,000 square foot homes with 4 bathrooms and an occupancy of 8 people, but the current demand is actually 3,500 sq ft homes with 3 bathrooms and an occupancy of 4 people. Adding a 800 sq ft ADU with one bathroom would not exceed the capacity limit.