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Date: 4/5/2022
WORTHINGTON – On March 28, the Planning Board gave residents a look at a proposed bylaw change that would allow mother-in-law apartments of up to 900 square feet. The bylaw would also offer dozens of homeowners a process to reach compliance with current zoning.
“It’s the opposite of punitive,” said Charley Rose, a member of the Selectboard. “There is no allowance currently for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in town. If there’s 50-plus of them around, they’re all illegal.”
Resident Gabriel Unger-Thayer Hall attended by Zoom. He questioned several scenarios for existing in-law apartments.
“My neighbors, they’re summer residents. How would that work? Can they build an accessory dwelling unit?” he asked. “Can we make it so past builds aren’t punitively affected? [And] the question about the square footage … I think it’s hard to have these one-size-fits-all rules.”
Planning Board member Bart Niswonger emphasized that a path to legal compliance is made available in the proposed bylaw changes. Niswonger explained the changes will simplify the processes to get the necessary approvals from town officials. He also clarified that homeowners with out-of-compliance ADUs are not required to achieve compliance.
Echoing Unger-Thayer Hall, Selectboard member Steven Smith also questioned the wisdom of limiting accessory dwelling units to 900 square feet. He noted the size restriction may unduly limit the ambitions of owners of larger houses, which are plentiful in town.
“Amend your language on the number of square feet per dwelling to make it something like fifty percent of the square footage of the primary dwelling, or 900 square feet, which ever is greater,” Smith said. That language would oppose the currently proposed language, allowing ADUs of a greater rather than smaller size “to deal with the fact that there are many dwellings in Worthington that are quite large.”
Opinions among the gathered town leaders differed on size limits, especially Smith’s idea that an ADU be half the size of the primary dwelling. Amy Wang, board chair, knew of a residence in town of less than 900 square feet, where an in-law apartment could become a second dwelling equaling the primary dwelling in size. Wang said that scenario was not intended by the town in proposing the ADU bylaw amendment.
“We’re trying to be nice to people with smaller dwellings,” Wang said. “People with larger dwellings, I don’t want them to be able to build an ADU that’s as big as my house. I don’t think that’s an ADU anymore. It’s another house.”
Planning Board members also heard strong concerns about enforcement. Joel and Sarah Upton of 130 Prentice Rd. called in to praise the board’s work on the bylaw and to push for precise information for voters at Town Meeting.
“I can imagine many people in town are going to be very concerned,” Sarah Upton said, “not about the abstract reality of the law, which is perfectly clear and I think quite wonderful, but how it will be enforced…I would like to have it very very clear about what I can and can’t do; and if I proceed in a way that is, in fact, as Charley [Rose] says, illegal, that there will be consequences. That would give the whole bylaw a much greater chance of passing, which I indeed hope it will.”
Isaac Bauer, Planning Board chair, commented that his board isn’t responsible for enforcement. The Planning Board also didn’t want to introduce additional language around enforcement of the proposed ADU bylaw. The board’s assumption was the ADU bylaw would be enforced under the same authority as the other zoning ordinances and building codes.
Eric Preston, a resident of Pleasant Street, called in to offer the point of view of the older families in Worthington, who live in old houses.
“What I suppose is considered an ADU has been on this property for probably more than fifty years,” Preston said. “It’s an interesting case for families that have been living here for generations.”
Joe Boudreau, chair of the Finance Committee, sought added clarity on parking issues. The proposed bylaw allows parking for one unregistered vehicle on each property, for the occupant of the primary household or the ADU. The town now allows one unregistered car per property.
“Before this legislation would have any success at the Annual Town Meeting the Selectboard needs to weigh in very specifically as to what Charlene’s questions are,” Boudreau said, “how they are answered, and precisely … how does the bylaw intersect with other bylaws in town?”
The town’s building inspector, Charlene Baiardi, informed the Planning Board that some of the language of the proposed bylaw seemed to confuse the roles of the town’s building code and zoning compliance officers. She serves the town as both inspector and officer. She told the board that some references in the proposed bylaw assigned certain functions to the building inspector that are under the purview of the zoning officer.
The input from town officials and residents resulted in amendments to the proposed bylaw for ADUs. Board members voted to present the bylaw, including amendments, as a warrant article on the agenda of Annual Town Meeting, scheduled this year for May 7.