Expanded Beverly ADU Ordinance Change Moves Toward Passage

BEVERLY, MA — A long discussed and debated Beverly zoning change allowing for expanded accessory dwelling unit development moved to within the cusp of passage on Monday after the Beverly City Council held a final public hearing on amendments to the proposed changes and approved them for a first vote passage.

The ordinance change will go before the City Council once more at its December meeting with a second passage vote allowing for the expansion of ADUs to allow for owner-occupied homeowners to build and rent ADUs to anyone by right as long as they meet zoning requirements. The current ordinance only allows temporary rentals to relatives through a special permit.

The ordinance has gone through several tweaks since its introduction through a letter from City Councilor Hannah Bowen last year, with those making final passage including an allowance for those building an ADU to seek a variance for a non-conforming property, and the flexibility to have a dedicated parking spot be part of a shared driveway or parking area.

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 City Council Legal Affairs Committee opted to request one final public hearing after the Planning Board recommended what were determined to be "material changes" in the original proposal that went before a joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Board in September.

Monday night's public hearing brought little new debate with those speaking in public comment unanimously supporting the ordinance change.

"It feels like we're reaching the end of the process in a very natural way," Bowen said Monday night. "The amount of public comment sort of peaked at the time when we still had the most work still to do. That's been addressed. I think the recommendations from the Planning Department and the Planning Board make the ordinance even stronger.

"So, really excited to see how the process has played out and the place that we've landed with a really strong ordinance that, as others have said, I believe will be a great step in the right direction."

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 create property 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 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.

Beverly Director of Planning and Development Darlene Wynne said in September that 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.

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