Changes To Salem's New Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance Up For Review

SALEM, MA — After years spent churning through the approval process, Salem's new accessory dwelling unit ordinance is now already facing several revisions aimed at increasing participation in the program designed to increase affordable housing in the city.

Mayor Kim Driscoll is proposing the changes, most of which were reviewed during a September Committee of the Whole meeting, that she said in a letter dated Oct. 20 to the City Council she hopes will "remove current zoning barriers to creating these much needed affordable units."

The City Council and Planning Board will meet jointly on Wednesday to discuss the proposed changes and hear public comments. The 6:30 p.m. meeting will take place in City Council chambers at 93 Washington Street and will be available via live stream on Zoom here.

After several City Council votes on ADUs — or so-called "in-law apartments" — failed to meet the "super majority" needed for passage, the ordinance finally passed in 2021 after a new state law provided that only a "simple majority" was needed for passage.

Yet, despite incentives that include reimbursement grants of up to $47,500 for the design and construction of the ADUs, the program is off to a slow start in the Witch City with Driscoll noting as of late October that only eight building applications have been submitted for affordable accessory dwelling units.

"In combination with the recently announced ADU design and construction grants, and the enactment of the state law granting Salem homeowners the ability to exempt affordable ADUs from their property taxes, we are optimistic that more ADUs will begin to be constructed in our community," Driscoll's letter said.

Among the proposed changes is the allowance for new detached units to be considered for ADUs, compared to the current ordinance in which only existing detached units qualify, as well as changes to the utility and setback requirements for these units.

A major change is that, as currently constituted, only ADUs within an owner-occupied residence is allowed. The proposal would eliminate owner-occupation of the main unit as a barrier to creating the ADU.

The proposal also seeks to remove the two-bedroom maximum ADU provision "due to fair housing concerns."

Proponents of ADUs say they allow more affordable housing in a housing-crunched community such as Salem and allow older residents to stay in their homes by renting out a portion of it to gain the income necessary to stay in the city and reduce living space.

Opponents say additional units reshape the character of established neighborhoods and create more traffic and congestion.

The ordinance passed the City Council twice before by 6-5 margins in the past four years, but a two-thirds supermajority was needed at the time for zoning changes. However, Gov. Charlie Baker — in an effort to make it easier for cities to create more housing — signed a state law allowing those changes based on a simple majority in 2021.

The ordinance passed two votes of the City Council by 7-4 margins in May 2021 — still short of what used to be the old super-majority threshold.

(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.)