GREENFIELD — The Planning Board highlighted the need for in-law apartments as Greenfield’s elderly population grows, during two public information sessions on the proposed accessory dwelling unit ordinance Thursday.
The controversial ordinance would allow up to 800-square-foot dwelling units to be built either inside existing owner-occupied homes, as additions or inside of detached garages or carriage houses. Planning Board Chairwoman Roxann Wedegartner said the idea of new, detached structures hasn’t been resolved yet.
The board withdrew its original proposal in April to give members time to do more research.
During the information sessions, Wedegartner gave a Powerpoint presentation about what ADUs are, why they’re necessary, what regulations they would have to meet and how they would benefit the community. She also presented statistics from other towns in the area that adopted similar ordinances and answered questions from the public.
About 10 residents came to the evening session, held at the Planning Office, and Wedegartner said the turnout at the Senior Center was similar during the afternoon session.
The need for ADUs, Wedegartner said, is supported by information from a 2014 Greenfield housing study done by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, which shows not only a growing senior population, but also a lack of affordable housing for both seniors and young adults.
“We need to fill in those gaps,” she said.
According to Wedegartner, ADUs would help attract young working families to Greenfield by providing an affordable alternative to those who might not be ready to buy their first home. She said they would also allow elderly residents to remain in their own homes longer by providing a space for children or caregivers to live.
Some expressed concern, however, that the dwelling units would harm the character of existing neighborhoods and would create privacy issues.
Resident David Singer said he worries that existing, free-standing units close to property lines could be converted into in-law apartments, impeding on neighbors’ space.
“The privacy of their yard is lost,” he said, adding the density of smaller neighborhoods is also a concern.
Eric Twarog, the town’s director of planning and development, said detached structures that don’t meet the setbacks outlined by the ordinance would have to receive special permission from the Zoning Board of Appeals in order to be converted into ADUs.
“The board will look at all the circumstances on a case-by-case basis and make a decision,” he said.
Wedegartner said when the ordinance was originally proposed, there was a lot of concern that a large number of people would want to build ADUs. She said when looking at numbers from other communities in the area that adopted similar ordinances, that wasn’t the case.
Montague has had an ADU ordinance for the last 10 years and in that time, Wedegartner said they’ve permitted 11 units. Shutesbury has permitted three over the last four years and Northampton, which has had their ordinance for 24 years, has permitted 100 in that time.
Leverett, Conway, Buckland and Shelburne have had accessory dwelling ordinances for four years and in that time, Wedegartner said none of the towns have had any requests.
“I think it’s safe to say Greenfield, being a more urban environment than some of those communities, we may see at least one a year,” she said.
Others at the meeting expressed concern that the ordinance would allow “tiny houses,” which are often between 100 and 400 square feet and mobile.
Twarog said although there is no minimum size requirement for the structures — new structures are evaluated on a case-by-case basis — ADUs have to be on a permanent foundation, which many tiny houses are not.
Resident Nancy Hazard, who said she worked on the town’s master plan when it was originally written, was supportive of the ordinance.
“I feel this town could benefit by having a denser population, particularly closer to the core,” she said, adding, “So many of the buildings in Greenfield were built when families were quite large, and they just aren’t anymore.”
Wedegartner said the board is nearly done crafting the language of its newest draft of the ordinance. Once that’s complete, it will be presented at a joint public hearing of the Town Council and Planning Board, tweaked based on feedback from the public and a final ADU ordinance will be submitted by the board to the council. From there, Wedegartner said the council will take recommendations from the subcommittee assigned to review the language and present it to the full council for discussion and vote.
“To come up with our draft language, we reviewed the language of several area towns and came up with the most relevant language to meet our needs in our town,” she said.
Twarog added the town’s building inspector will be tasked with enforcing the ordinance, should it be approved.
“He’s happy with the language and believes the way it’s written, it’s enforceable,” he said.
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