SUBJECT: STANDARDS FOR SECONDARY DWELLILNG UNITS: REVIEW AND CONSIDER ADOPTION

At its meeting of May 14, 2003, the Planning Commission sent forward to the Town Council revisions to the Town’s Secondary Dwelling Unit regulations as required by recent changes in State law. The Planning Commission also held extensive discussion of a proposed "Standards for Secondary Dwelling Units" document, and continued the discussion pending revisions. Relevant minutes of the May 14, 2003 meeting are attached as Exhibit 1.

Based upon direction from the Commission, Staff has extensively revised the proposed "Standards" document, attached as part of Exhibit 2 in red-line fashion.

 ANALYSIS

Legal Issues

The Commission posed several legal questions at the public hearing that required additional Staff research.

The first question was whether the Town can impose a 10,000 square foot minimum lot size for lots containing secondary dwelling units. The answer is "yes".

The second question was whether the Town could impose a reasonable slope limitation on secondary dwelling units. We believe the answer is "yes".

The other question, regarding differentiating secondary dwelling units that constitute "New Construction" with respect to design review, and requesting a State Attorney General opinion on this issue, have been addressed by the Town Attorney in a memo dated June 4, 2003, attached as Exhibit 3. The Town Attorney advises that the Town should not attempt to limit secondary dwelling units in a manner would preclude new construction or require a discretionary process for it, and also concludes that the Town does not have the authority to request an Attorney General opinion on this issue.

Standards Document

As noted above, the Standards list has been extensively modified to address concerns raised by the Planning Commission. The modifications, shown in redline form on the exhibit, are summarized as follows:

Standard #6 specifically identifies those land and structure regulations (required yards, lot coverage, floor area limits) to which secondary dwelling units that constitute "New Construction" must conform. Variances and floor area exceptions are explicitly prohibited.

Standard #9, regarding secondary dwelling units proposed to be located within an existing Primary Unit, has been modified in similar fashion.

Standard #10 now addresses the same issues with respect to proposed secondary dwelling units that would be converted from existing detached accessory buildings.

Standard #11 (new) limits secondary dwelling units to slopes less than 30%, in order to address slope instability issues, grading and retaining wall issues.

Standard #12 (new) limits grading required for a secondary dwelling unit to less than 30 cubic yards in an attempt to address grading, retaining wall, and site disturbance issues.

Standard #13 regarding parking has been modified to reflect Planning Commission changes made at the May 14, 2003 meeting.

Standard #15 regarding landscaping was re-written to better explain the objectives of required landscaping and promote a ministerial determination as to whether those objectives are achieved.

Standard #16 was modified to address visual appearance. Staff has concluded that the most appropriate approach is to require that the secondary dwelling unit closely resemble the larger structure with which it is associated.

Standard #17 regarding privacy impacts has been expanded to address more than side yard openings, with a quantitative separation distance of 20 feet applied such that discretion is not required as to whether an actual privacy impact might occur.

Standard #19 has been expanded to address lots that may be served by individual sewage disposal systems.

General Observations

Staff does not anticipate a significant "spike" in secondary dwelling unit applications as a result of the changes in State law, but could be surprised, especially if the economy continues to falter.

The Standards list takes a very conservative and cautious approach to the newly- ministerial nature of secondary dwelling unit approvals. Staff is hopeful that, over time, the Town may be able to relax some of its more rigorous standards once a level of comfort is reached that potentially undesirable outcomes can be avoided despite the lack of discretionary review.

While the Standards list has attempted to avoid the potentially most negative impacts of a ministerial approval process through careful crafting of criteria, there is no guarantee that an isolated undesirable approval may occur now and then.

The Standards list can be quickly and easily amended to respond to changing conditions and needs.

RECOMMENDATION

Take any public testimony on the proposed "Standards for Secondary Dwelling Units" document and make any desired revisions.

Adopt the Resolution (Exhibit 2) recommending to the Town Council adoption of the Standards for Secondary Dwelling Unit document.

EXHIBITS

1. Excerpt from Planning Commission minutes of May 14, 2003.

2. "Standards for Secondary Dwelling Units" document revised 6/4/2003, with a Resolution recommending approval to the Town Council.