Planning Officials Consider Accessory Apartments

A majority of Town Meeting members would consider allowing under certain conditions, a survey unveiled this week reveals.

According to the survey, 83 percent of the 119 Town Meeting members who participated said they would allow accessory apartments but one of the units should be owner occupied.

Accessory units are defined as smaller second apartments within single-family homes, usually for older family members or nannies.

Officials at the invited Town Meeting members to complete the survey online, with six participants submitting paper responses. This week, Planning Department officials presented the results to the .

The survey reveals:

• 75 percent of participants would consider allowing accessory apartments in single-family homes;
• 83 percent said an owner should occupy one of the units;
• 64 percent said the property should have at least three parking spots;
• 62 percent said the accessory unit should be considerably smaller than the primary unit;
• 57 percent said owners must apply for a special permit;
• And 45 percent said the house must have adequate lot size as required by zoning.

Senior Planner Laura Wiener said the town’s Planning Department has drafted a proposal bylaw for this year’s Town Meeting. The proposal will go through some changes in the next few weeks, she added.

Wiener said the survey shows Town Meeting members are interested in the idea, though there “certainly is some opposition.”

“There was more openness to it than I expect,” she added.

Wiener expects to hold a public meeting at some point in February. After that, the accessory apartments proposal would be brought to the Arlington Redevelopment Board, she added.