Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/02/2012

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ASK THE AUTHOR JOIN LIS ONLINE! Go online during the month of July to participate in our "Ask the Author" forum, an interactive feature of Zoning Practice. Tom Daniels will be available to answer questions about this article. Go to the APA website at www.planning.org and follow the links to the Ask the Author section. From there, justsubm it your questions about the article using the e-mail link. The author will reply, and Zoning Practice will post the answers cumulatively on the website for the benefit of all subscribers. This feature will be available for selected issues of Zoning Practice at announced times. After each online discussion is closed, the answers will be saved in an online archive available through the APA Zoning Practice web pages. About the Author Tom Daniels is a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches Land -Use Planning, Environmental Planning, and Growth Management. Daniels is the coauthor of the Small Town Planning Handbook (APA Planners Press, 2007) and the Planners Guide to CommunityViz (APA Planners Press, 2011). tion of an ADU, whether detached or an attached apartment, will result in higher property taxes for the property owner. CREATING AN ACCESSORY HOUSING ORDINANCE Zoning is not known as a tool that local governments use to respond quickly to demographic trends or changes in the real estate market. The main purpose of zoning remains the separation of conflicting uses, which is closely tied to the protection of property values. But there is a sequence of steps that a local government can take to create a legally and politically sound acces sory housing ordinance. • First, planners and elected officials should make sure that the community generally supports ADUs. Then they can add an affordable housing goal to the comprehensive plan (if such a goal does not already exist). Next, planners and elected officials can include a policy objective to promote ADUs in the housing section of the comprehensive plan and amend the future land -use map to indicate where ADUs are al- lowed. Planners should have a sense of the maximum build -out potential for accessory dwelling units, and accessory units should only be allowed in areas with adequate central sewer and water service. This first step shows that the elected officials and planners support accessory housing. Second, make sure than the accessory housing provisions of the zoning ordinance are consistent with the local comprehensive plan. The affordable housing goat and ac- cessory dwelling objective give direction to the zoning ordinance and establish a legal basis for the accessory dwelling provisions within the zoning ordinance. The location of where ADUs are allowed on the zoning map should coincide with locations identified as appropriate on the future land -use map. The overall consistency of the zoning ordinance and zoning map with the affordable housing goal, the accessory housing objective, and the future land -use map of the comprehen- sive plan will make the accessory housing ordinance more likely to withstand legal challenges. An important decision is whether to allow accessory dwellings by right or through a special exception. A conditional use permit makes little sense because ac- cessory housing generally does not affect the entire community but rather certain neighborhoods. The advantage of the spe- cial exception approach is that the zoning ordinance can impose certain limits on the number of occupants of the accessory hous- ing. The special exception process involves The location of where ADUs are allowed on the zoning map should coincide with loca- tions identified as appropriate on the future land -use map. Third, the addition of the accessory hous- ing provisions in the zoning ordinance helps to avoid rezoning and variance battles, which can be expensive and engender bad feelings with neighbors. In drafting the ADU ordinance, planners should meet with residential prop- erty owners and neighborhood associations and negotiate design standards, parking, and rules forADUs, such as "no more than two people may reside in an accessory unit." This community outreach serves to head off political opposition to the accessory housing ordinance and to incorporate as much as pos- sible the comments of the people who will live near and next to the ADUs. The ADU ordinance emphasizes revising single- family zoning dis- tricts to allow accessory dwellings. ADUs, both detached units and attached apartments, must be defined in the ordinance. a review of the ADU that the home owner is proposing, a fee, and approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. On the other hand, allowing an ADU by -right can speed the review process while maintaining certain performance standards, such as a required tie -in to central sewer and water, limits on size, and number of residents. A site plan review is commonly required whether the zoning to allow ac- cessory dwellings is by -right or by special exception. Fourth, land development and building design standards are key issues, especially for detached units. Setbacks from prop- erty lines are usually stated in the zoning ordinance rather than left up to the variance process. For the sake of good neighbor rela- tions and appearance, a specific setback of ZONINGPRACTICE 7.12 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Ipage 3