Salem Proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance Changes Recommended

SALEM, MA — A change to the Salem accessory dwelling unit ordinance that would allow ADUs - or so-called "in-law apartments" — in non-owner-occupied houses was recommended for passage by the slimmest of margins at a City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday night.

The 5-4 vote came after a 7-2 vote of recommendation from the Planning Board and 90 minutes of conversation in which several Councilors said they were torn about their decisions.

Those in favor of the change generally cited the need to produce as much affordable housing as possible in the city as well as destigmatizing renters as being somehow less desirable neighbors than single-family homeowners. Those opposed to the change argued that the change could open up ADUs to the type of absentee landlords that many constituents opposed in the original push to allow ADUs in the first place.

The Council of the Whole recommendation sends the changes to the full City Council for ratification. Nine of the 10 Councilors were in attendance for Thursday's meeting and vote, with Lev McClain not in attendance and Robert McCarthy's seat temporarily vacant as he serves as acting mayor of the city.

City Council President Megan Stott was one of the Councilors who spoke out in favor of the changes.

"We don't have an ownership (residency) restriction on single-family homes in Salem," Stott said. "Why would we put a restriction on whether or not you can rent a single-family home that also has an ADU? It doesn't make any sense to me.

"Buying a home is not in the cards for everyone. I would not want to limit the possibility of somebody to live in a home because they are not able to get a ridiculously crazy mortgage right now and (afford) ridiculous property values. There are so many reasons why people choose to rent and not buy."

Councilor Alice Merkl agreed that limiting ADUs to only owner-occupied properties involves "some type of assumption that (renters) will be detrimental, which disturbs me."

"We really need to think about labeling renters as problems or labeling absentee landlords as creating issues in neighborhoods," Councilor Patti Morsillo agreed. "We need to back that up with more than anecdotal evidence because that's really harmful. Not everyone wants to own a home.

"Even though we've all been raised that it's the American Dream, not everyone wants to do that."

But those who voted against the change said making one this significant less than two years after passage of the long-debated original ordinance violated the spirit of all the effort and convincing that it took to get some residents to accept the idea of ADUs in the first place.

"This is a key part of how we sold these things to the public and how we discussed it with the public," Councilor Ty Hapworth said. "This soon after, I have an issue, just morally, with making this change.

"No matter what we do, this is not likely to have a major impact on affordable housing in Salem."

Councilors Jeff Cohen, Andrew Varela, Merkl, Morsillo and Stott voted for the owner-occupied change, while Councilors Caroline Watson-Felt, Conrad Prosniewski, Domingo Dominguez and Hapworth voted against the change.

The Committee of the Whole also recommended 8-1 on an ordinance change to allow detached structures to be used as ADUs — with Dominguez the lone dissenting vote — and unanimously voted on lesser-debated changes to the ordinance regarding a clarification around exterior entrances, bedroom limits and the need for separate utilities.

(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.)