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Date: 1/24/2023
SOUTH HADLEY – The Planning Board has continued with their busy schedule to start the new year as they have created another bylaw proposal, this time focused on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU).
ADU’s are small houses or apartments that exist on the same property lot as a single-family residence and have come to play a role in serving the national housing need in recent years.
Speaking with Reminder Publishing, Planning Director Anne Capra explained where the drafting of the
proposed bylaw is at, what work has been done to this point and what residents can learn about the proposed bylaw before being able to speak before the board at a Feb. 27 public hearing hosted through Zoom.
Capra said what led to the drafting of a bylaw on this topic of ADU’s came from the town looking to update their housing production plan, a plan community typically create every 5-7 years to lay out inventories of housing stock and then understand how that housing meets the needs of residents based on income, family size, etc.
“There is a housing shortage, nationally, regionally and in South Hadley,” said Capra. “It’s [the housing production plan] objective is really to identify ways to create more affordable housing for the community.”
State requirements have made it so communities must meet a 10 percent threshold of affordable housing units that make up their housing market. According to Capra, South Hadley currently has 5.6 percent of affordable housing units within town.
Capra called the state efforts a “driving force” in finding out ways to create affordable housing in the community. She added the South Hadley housing market sees high rates and lack of rentals available. When learning more about ADU’s, it provided a potential solution for South Hadley residents and in this instance that could work in conjunction in creating affordable housing options in town.
“In addition to creating units to creating deed restricted units for people who meet those income qualifications, there is definitely a need to do that, but there’s also a need to create unit rental units for people who don’t really need those really low-income thresholds, but still can’t afford to buy or rent a home in South Hadley,” Capra said.
With no ADU bylaw on the books, the Planning Board has since been working toward the drafting of a proposed bylaw and is looking to assist the demographics in town that would benefit from this housing option. Since ADU’s make use of the existing infrastructure and housing stock, they’re also environmentally friendly and respectful of a neighborhood’s pace and style.
Capra added the ADU’s intended market will be working class as well as seniors.
“People who are aging and can no longer maintain the single-family homes that they own for example. That’s the bulk of our housing stock and that’s also a big segment of our population,” Capra said. “So what’s happening with these folks is that they are having to be relocated to assisted living facilities, which are very expensive, and people often can’t afford or they’re having to go live with a relative, oftentimes outside of that community.”
Capra continued and said one of the benefits of an ADU is that they give homeowners the opportunity to create a new dwelling unit on their property where they could either move into or bring in a family member to live in.
These types of units allow older residents to stay put in their home as they age and provides them with the opportunity to retain independence but still have a situation set up for someone to help them if needed.
Many of the calls from residents Capra has so far received describe situations like this. For example, one person called whose mother lives in South Hadley, and he was looking to come and stay with his mother a few days a week to help take care of her and the home. The mother though doesn’t want him living in the house because she doesn’t want “a babysitter.”
“She likes her independence, and she wants to be able to age with dignity,” Capra noted, a common theme of many seniors and older residents.
The son wanted to convert the garage into an apartment so he could have a place to stay for those few nights a week he wanted to look after his mother and felt this was a good option to not infringe on her independence. Unfortunately, town bylaw does not allow for that specific move so the need for an ADU option became more apparent due to situations like this in town.
Capra said another population that could benefit greatly from the addition of an ADU bylaw to town are people with adult children either fresh out of school or already with a young family. She noted she has heard a lot from people in this population as they navigate their housing situations.
“They are looking at being able to provide them with a place where they can live at a reasonable rate while they save up money to be able to buy a home,” Capra said. “I actually have several community members talking to me about this right now where their adult children are in this situation and they’re looking to create an ADU. They don’t want them living in the house but having an ADU on the property would give them exactly the type of breathing room that everyone needs, give the young family a year to save up money, live in the community, establish their job and advance their career here and then in a couple years be able to buy something.”
Capra noted one fear some community members have expressed to her is that strangers could move into these ADU properties. According to Capra, the draft bylaw makes it clear that the owner of the property has say so in who moves into the ADU, so property owners interested in ADU’s should not fear it will be taken up by a stranger. It will be an owner-occupied property, thus giving the owner complete say in who can live in the ADU.
“I personally back in my 20’s lived in an ADU, a detached ADU and I babysat for the family that owns the property. In addition to the services that were provided, there was community built that strengthens the community,” Capra said.
As of the latest Planning Board meeting, both attached and detached ADU’s are being considered. The size limitation being used at the moment is what’s described in the state law which is 900 square feet or 50 percent of the principal dwelling unit, whichever is smaller.
Capra noted due to most of the housing stock in South Hadley being single family residential, there is still some concern about if someone where to build a detached ADU on their small lot it could be disruptive to the neighborhood character.
A way to combat this is by setbacks. Capra said the setback requirements in the bylaw currently say that building setbacks have to meet that of the principal dwelling unit.
“Instead of limiting the size of the lot, we’re just saying where the unit gets built up would have to meet principal dwelling setbacks,” Capra said.
Capra hopes residents take advantage of the Feb. 27 virtual public hearing at 6:30 p.m. as the board has yet to formally speak with the public and receive their feedback on this topic. It is also state law to open a public hearing before bringing a draft bylaw to town meeting, the ultimate goal after a hearing.
“Our primary objective is to hear what the public thinks about this and get their feedback and then based on that the board will make some decisions about it,” Capra said. She noted she thinks of this process as “increasing housing units in the town in a gentle way…We’re adding units in places that are already developed and that are desired by the property owners to mee their needs and meet the housing needs of the community.”
If the draft is finalized after feedback from the public, it will then be sent to the Selectboard for approval to be on the warrant for the annual Town Meeting.
Those interested in learning more about the town’s process in drafting the ADU bylaw, residents can go to https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/docs/adu-guide-web-singles.pdf or you can visit the Planning Boards page on the town website and look at agenda background materials from the board’s Jan. 9 meeting for a recap on discussions from the meeting.
Capra also noted she would soon be implementing a page of information regarding ADU’s on the town website.