Love your mother in law (apartment)
Published 3:00 pm Saturday, December 1, 2007
Like its oft-reviled inspiration, the humble “mother in law
apartment” could use some more love.
A modest and cozy housing alternative for singles and couples who can’t afford the standard Bainbridge manse, the ADU – that’s “accessory dwelling unit” in planning parlance – is nonetheless looked down upon by some as bootleg density on an island that is, to their minds, already too crowded. Uh huh – as if a family of five is going to take up residence in an 800-square-foot backyard cottage or over-the-garage flat. A barista or a teacher store clerk, maybe, the kind of low-wage worker so essential to the community fabric.
Raising the stature of ADUs – and, indeed, getting more islanders to build them and rent them out – is the goal of the Community Housing Coalition through a workshop from 9:30 to noon today at City Hall. CHC Director Kat Gjovik and a passel of advocates and planners will discuss how ADUs fit into city and county regulations, and the financial aspects of putting a second, much smaller abode on your property. For the aesthetically minded, designs by architects Miles Yanick and Peter O’Connor will be arrayed. The seminar will also see the debut screening of a video by islander Terry Moyemont, chronicling landlords who rent out their ADUs and the tenants for whom they are home. (The video is also screening on BITV this month, so look for it there too.)
Briefly: Accessory dwelling units are permitted outright in all island zones except shorelines, where they’re a conditional use. They’re currently limited to 800 square feet in size, although advocates would like to see that bumped up a bit. Could we use more of them? Consider: In 2003, the city granted permits for 159 new single-family homes; that same year, just nine permits were issued for ADUs. The numbers have been about the same since then: 2004, 143 big houses, three ADUs; 2005, 171 and five; 2006, 110 and six; this year to date, 82 and seven. So over that five-year span – and not counting the few hundred expensive new condos that have come onto the market – we’ve added to the island housing stock about 665 single-family residences, homes that are almost by definition beyond the financial reach of young people, singles, first-time buyers and hourly wage-earners. During that same time, we’ve added maybe 30 smaller homes, not all of which may even be rentals; some may be actually occupied by mothers-in-law or other family members.
Again, ADUs are no panacea, just a piece of a larger housing puzzle. Elsewhere on this page, Carl Florea of the Housing Resources Board calls for preservation of Winslow’s Quay apartments through public purchase. An excellent cause, but a tread-water move that curbs the loss of affordable units without expanding the stock. By contrast, new ADUs are a market-driven solution that requires no tax subsidy to put roofs over heads. In fact, they expand the tax base by creating low-cost housing that stays in private hands.
We islanders endlessly proclaim our support for economic diversity, but the upward spiral of housing costs makes that goal elusive. Accessory dwelling units are a good policy for the community, and perhaps a good investment for…you.
Another advantage of building an ADU and putting out a sign for a tenant: you can charge rent. More than you can say if your mother in law moves in.
