Whatever you think an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is, it’s been damaged by state government.

When ADUs were first introduced into Greenfield zoning, one of its main purposes was: “Provide older homeowners with a means of obtaining rental income, companionship, security, and services, thereby enabling them to stay more comfortably in homes and neighborhoods they might otherwise be forced to leave.”

Several months ago, Gov. Maura Healey kicked the legs out from under this concept. The new law ends the “owner-occupied” requirement, opening the door to absentee landlords. The law also deletes the “special permit” requirement for one ADU per lot. In 2020, Greenfield’s City Council required detached ADUs to obtain a special permit, giving neighbors a legal right to raise concerns. But the focus now has shifted away from elderly/disabled people.

The ADU law does not promise that small apartments in your backyard will add “moderately priced rental units” to our housing stock. Building a small backyard home is very expensive, beyond the reach of many homeowners and buyers. Housing access depends not simply on increased supply of apartments, it also requires economic opportunities through access to quality jobs with livable wages that support ongoing economic security.

Elders cannot just relocate to small homes — they need in-home services and flexible transportation support for those who no longer drive. Absentee landlords and corporate buyers will push home prices and rents as high as the market will allow.

The current production-side frenzy in the local and nationwide housing market is having a decidedly negative impact on a concept called “aging in place,” which AARP defines as “the ability to live in one’s home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level.” I worked for three decades on Beacon Hill to expand the rights of low-income older people to live at home. In 2008, Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law a bill I wrote that guaranteed tens of thousands of elders on Medicaid the right to remain living in “the least restrictive setting appropriate to their need.”

Because of my work history, I have a strong commitment to the concept of “aging in place.” An AARP report, “Aging In Place, “states: “Nearly 90% of people over the age of 65 indicate they want to stay in their homes as long as possible, and four of five in that age bracket believe their current home is where they will always live.”

When my wife and I bought a house in Greenfield in 1978, we never imagined that 46 years later we would still be here. We raised our three daughters in this house. We were the young ones in the neighborhood pushing baby strollers. Now we’re the old folks. We have no plan to leave our home despite the clear message from Greenfield officials that we should consider downsizing.

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Our local housing debate has devolved into class warfare: pitting elders against younger families, and middle class against poor. At the Oct. 3 Planning Board meeting, one public official said: “The older generations are against [ADUs] and the younger generations are for them … because they falsely believe it will decrease their equity … They oppose affordable housing advocacy in the name of homeownership, like many aging ‘not in my backyard’ members of the baby boomer generation … They still believe in the so-called American Dream model of detached single-family homes.”

A My Turn column on Nov. 11 stated: “There are hundreds of three-plus bedroom senior households occupied by 1-2 people. These homes have rapidly increased in value, and with that the property taxes, rendering them less affordable for more and more folks, especially those on fixed incomes.”

Greenfield’s Community and Economic Development Department “2024 Strategy Plan” includes an old vs. young tension: “A shortage of accessible and affordable units of smaller size makes it difficult for seniors to age in place within the community, while younger families struggle to find affordable first homes to purchase.”

The 2024 “Greenfield Housing Plan”written by CommunityScale states: “The broader Greenfield region has substantially more small senior households living in larger units than the state average. Many households in this group might be interested in downsizing to smaller units.”

AARP says: “Aging in place offers numerous benefits to older adults — including satisfaction, health and self-esteem — all of which are key to successful aging.” Pushing for denser housing, in smaller apartments, should never be used to pressure elders to abandon a home they’ve lived in for decades, and paid off. Let them age in place, with dignity and independence.

Al Norman’s Pushback column is published in the Recorder every first and third Wednesday of the month. The state has published draft regulations for ADUs and will hold a public comment period on these regulations from Dec. 20 to Jan. 10, with final regulations published by Feb 2.