Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/06/1994

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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 space without replacing the garage. It is unlikely that an accessory apartment ordinance will make property values decline. There are few available facts on this subject, other than the lack of significant change in property values reported in cities that have ordinances. The market effects of an accessory apartment ordinance will be more than masked by other influences on home prices such as interest rates. 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 continued 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 percent of their 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 discourage them. 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 generally be a problem in the rural district from the increased burden on water and sewer services. Staff would suggest that the best policy is to clearly state in the accessory apartment permit that the homeowner accepts all responsibility for the well and septic and indemnifies the City against any liability as a result of the issuance of the permit. To insure that accessory apartments will not visually destroy the single family character of the neighborhood, the most common provision put in permits is that there shall be no creation of additional entrances on the front of the house. To prevent speculation and to insure that the appearance of the structure will be maintained, a very common requirement in accessory apartment permits is that the owner of the home continue to reside in one of the units and must have resided in the home for a specified amount of time previous to the application. Many apartment ordinances attempt to specify maximum and minimum apartment sizes to ensure that the accessory apartment will be subordinate to the principal structure. One approach is to set a minimum number of square feet that applies to both units or to set a maximum percentage of the principal structure that will be consumed by the accessory apartment. Many times there is a maximum placed on the number of bedrooms allowed in the rental unit. However, it may take a combination of several of these approaches to give the flexibility necessary to deal equitably with the variety of house types in which accessory apartments may be installed. For example, a colonial-style home with equal floor areas upstairs and down may be difficult to convert into anything other than two units that are roughly equal in floor area. Staff would recommend the simple approach of deferring maximum and minimum apartment sizes in accordance with applicable regulations in the health, housing and building codes. It is important to understand that zoning for accessory apartments may not produce many accessory units. Installing an accessory apartment requires permit approval, remodeling, making design decisions, setting a rent level, deciding upon and finding financing, managing tenants and addressing tax implications.