Agenda - Council - 03/28/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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apartment, yearly for every 1,000 single family homes. In addition, the total number of occupants in the home is not likely to increase beyond what the home was designed for. If it is a concern, then th~ City can place a limit on the number of accessory apartment permits that will be issued by the City annually. There is no known example of a community that has reversed its decision to permit ~ccessory apartments. The underused housing stock is increasingly being looked at by home owners as a source of income and services. Both the homeowner and the community can benefit from the presence of accessory apartments if they are carefully managed. Accessory apartments offer particular advantages to older home owners. Apartment tenants can provide not only rental income but they may al~o provide personal services to older homeowners in remm for lower rent. Tenants can be a sourc~of companionship and security from fear of criminal intrusion and personal accidents. In addition, buyers of new and/or existing homes may find that the installation of an accessory apartment offers them a means of meeting payments on high interest loans. The presence of an accessory apartment can also help single parents to hang onto their houses in the wake of divorce or death. The most obvious public benefit of accessory apartments 3s that they offer a source of inexpensive housing units in the community. The most frequent reason for resisting the legalization of accessory apartments is increase in parking and traffic congestion. Studies indicate that parking problems are generally not created by accessory apartments but are the result of residents using garages for storage and not for automobiles. In addition, most neighborhoods reach peak population density and peak car ownership levels about 20 years after they are built. At that time, the homes are full of teenagers with cars. Accessory apartments are not installed in enough numbers to come close to that 20-year peak qf kids and cars. Zoning requirements for accessory apartments should reassure opponents, and at the same time it is important not ~to overwhelm homeowners with hurdles like public hearings. Many people, particularly the elderly, will not consider going through .a public hearing. A provision could be included in an ordinance for accessory apartments' that exempts the homeowner from normal procedures such as a public hearing unless requested by the immediate neighbors. The concerns for traffic and off-street parking can be alleviated by prohibiting on-street.parking. The criteria for an accessory apartment should also prohibit the conversion of garage space to additional living spac~without replacing the garage. It is unlikely that an accessory-apartment ordinance will make property values decline, especially whervrequiring one of the units to he owner-occupied. Typically, the homeowner takes more interest in the condition of premises than the renter. There are few available facts on this subject, other~han the lack of significant change in property values reported in cities that have ordinances. Communities may be presented with accessory apartments in their neighborhood whether or not there!is an ordinance. The lack of regulations appears to work to the advantage of the homeowner. The homeowner avoids bureaucracy and increased property taxes and probably converts more cheaply. This general attitude results in the contiriued spread of illegal accessory apartments. The growth of poor quality conversions may become a problem for the city because of code violations. Reports show that other cities that have legalized accessory apartments after they had spread to 10- 20 pOrcent of theft housing stock had to devise ways to encourage people to bring their apartments up tO code. The presence of an ordinance permitting accessory apartments doesn't necessarily stimulate conversion to accessory apartments, and the absence of one doesn't necessarily disccmrage them. As stated earlier, accessory apartments are not likely to increase the number of people living in a house beyond the number for which it was originally designed. As a result, there should not gene[ally be a problem in the rural district from the increased burden on water and sewer services. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I