I am writing to thank the City Council for passing the revisions to the zoning ordinance regulating accessory apartments. I believe these changes are consistent with the goals of the zoning redesign, helps the City comply with the MBTA Communities Act and will allow greater density within our community while helping preserve our existing housing stock and protect our current streetscapes.
As an architect in town, I have completed three accessory apartments, one currently under construction with two more ‘on the boards’. All are for intergenerational living. Parents building for adult children or for themselves to live beside adult children and grandchildren. None are being built for rental income. There is a real demand for this type of housing that this proposal addresses.
There is no basis for those who claim that eliminating the look-back rules will lead to more tear-downs. The Building Pros Zoning Redesign Working Group discussed this specific issue at length and concluded that developers are not inclined to build ADUs because they are costly to construct and limit the pool of buyers. Accessory apartments are being built by homeowners as intended.
The proposed setbacks are a good compromise between what is allowed for other accessory buildings and what is allowed for the primary structure. The current setback rules limit detached accessory apartments to only the largest lots in the city.
The discussion around screening is difficult because this requirement would need to provide flexibility to address all sorts of conditions that the ordinance just can’t provide. I believe Homeowners and their neighbors can address this issue without regulation.
While I believe the Accessory Apartment regulations could be further improved to better serve the homeowners in this city, I support the changes currently approved by City Council.
Jay C. Walter