Salem City Council To Take Up Proposed ADU Changes Thursday Night

SALEM, MA — A change to Salem's accessory-dwelling unit ordinance that could allow ADUs — or so-called "in-law apartments" — in non-owner-occupied buildings will be part of the discussion on proposed zoning changes to the ordinance allowing ADUs at a Salem City Council Committee of the Whole meeting on Thursday.

The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers at Salem City Hall with remote participation available here.

A majority of public comment during a Nov. 30 joint hearing of the City Council and Planning Board hammered away at that proposed change in Salem's ADU ordinance. Residents who spoke that night charged that with the new detached unit construction allowance and without the owner-occupancy requirement, the ADUs would become just another opportunity for developers in the city to exploit renters, and not provide the financial resource for seniors that was used to sell the program in the first place.

Former Mayor Kim Driscoll's letter to the City Council and Planning Board dated Oct. 20 argued that eliminating the provisions, combined with grant and tax incentives from the city and state, would help jumpstart the program that received only eight building applications as of late October.

City Councilors, who had already reviewed the proposed changes during a September meeting, did note that units created under the changes would still have to meet the ordinance provision that they are made available at 70 percent or less of "fair market value" in the city — about $1,400
for a one-bedroom unit.

The changes were referred back to the Planning Board, which voted 7-2 to allow the changes in the owner-occupancy restriction, and 9-0 to allow for detached structures and a series of other less-debated changes involving utility hookups, stairway entrances and setback requirements.

The Salem original ordinance allowing ADUS twice failed to gain the "super majority" in the City Council required for zoning by-law changes before a change in state law allowed those changes through a simple majority vote in 2021. The City Council then voted 7-4 in May 2021 to pass the ordinance that Driscoll has long pushed as one answer to the city's affordable housing struggles.

(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.)