Is Beverly Ready To Embrace ADUs?: Strong Support Shown At Public Hearing

BEVERLY, MA — A long-crafted Beverly ordinance change that would allow expanded accessory dwelling unit development and occupancy in the city received general support from elected and appointed officials, as well as those contributing through public comment, at Tuesday night's joint public hearing of the City Council and Planning Board.

The current ordinance proposal would change the in-place accessory apartment ordinance — which allows only temporary rentals in attached units to family members through a special permit — to a by-right allowance to create attached or detached units up to 1,000 square feet available to rent to anyone as long as it meets zoning requirements and has one dedicated on-site parking spot.

"I am very excited that we have reached this stage in this form," said City Councilor Hannah Bowen, who proposed the ordinance change in a letter to the City Council last year and spoke with Patch about her support of ADUs ahead of a public hearing on the ordinance in April. "I think it's strong and I think judging by the number of people in the room tonight and that we have watching indicates how much support there is for these provisions."

Supporters of expanded ADUs cite it as a way to increase housing inventory using existing infrastructure without substantial new construction during an affordable housing crisis, as well as a means for older residents to potentially downsize their living space and create income that allows them to stay in their homes.

Those who oppose ADUs generally share concerns about increased traffic and congestion and possibly changing the character of established residential neighborhoods.

The Beverly proposal would require the owner to live in either the main dwelling area or the ADU itself on any property and would be in line with city bylaws banning short-term, or transient, rentals.

The latest proposal did not include the strict affordability requirement that a similar ordinance in Salem includes after it was deemed a potential impediment to residents in taking advantage of the ADU provision.

"This is not about renting a room," Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said. "This is about building an apartment. So there is a real capital cost to the homeowner in order to do this. Given one of our goals is to provide an avenue for homeowners to stay in their homes longer and to help them afford the cost of a home, and if they are going to need to take out a home equity line (of credit) or refinance, which is likely, we don't feel it is our place to tell them they can't charge a fair market rate for the unit."

Beverly Director of Planning and Development Darlene Wynne said a survey shows that most ADUs — given their relatively diminutive size — tend to be more on the affordable scale anyway and that while 7,510 Beverly homes will be eligible to create ADUs, including 4,617 with detached structures, a more likely expectation based on area communities with ADU ordinances is that between five and 10 will be created per year.

Salem created six new units in its first year after its long and often contentious battle to pass an ADU ordinance. The Salem ordinance also includes an owner-occupancy requirement with the push to eliminate that provision in hopes of creating more housing options withdrawn amid vocal public objection this past winter.

Ward 2 City Councilor Estelle Rand praised the ordinance change as a way to increase new housing across the city after more than two-thirds of recent new housing development in recent years has been downtown, while City Councilor At-Large Brendan Sweeney said he would support some of the tax and grant support being used in Salem to help incentivize ADUs.

Bowen said that while she continues to support the ordinance in its current form, she questions the need for a parking requirement — that excludes a tandem parking space in a shared driveway — and that the affordability aspect of new ADUs should be monitored if not specifically enforced with an ordinance provision.

The overriding intent of the ordinance received overwhelming support during public comment on Tuesday with Wynn saying that 36 of 38 public comments on ADUs submitted to the city since June were positive toward the change.

The public hearing was recessed until the next City Council meeting so those who might want to speak, but might not have been around on the day after Labor Day, can do so, and so the Planning Board can discuss it at its next meeting prior to making a recommendation to the City Council.

The City Council public hearing will resume at its next meeting on Sept. 18.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)