Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
Simply fill out the form below. A collection of each week’s responses will appear in the following week’s column. To view responses on our previous topics click here.
Publisher reserves the right to edit responses for clarity and publish online and/or in our print publications.
Please let us know your thoughts!
This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Accessory Dwelling Units
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are being debated, once again, in the chambers of the Anne Arundel County Council. ADUs are secondary structures on a single-family home property, in which other people may live. Some homeowners seek to build such units to accommodate extended family members or friends—especially senior or special-needs citizens—or rent them out to other individuals/families for the short- or long-term. But other property owners oppose them because ADUs potentially attract additional traffic and create parking issues within their communities.
The County Council has been considering a bill that relaxes ADU requirements by removing the 14,000-square-foot limit on the size of properties allowed to house an ADU. The same bill would, however, set a limit on the size of detached ADUs to the lesser of 800 square feet or 50 percent of the single-family home’s interior square footage.
Three Republican council members supported an amendment to the bill that would also require each ADU to have a corresponding parking space on the lot. But three Democratic council members defeated that amendment at Tuesday’s hearing. Additionally, a second amendment was passed that removes the previous requirement that the main single-family home or the accessory dwelling unit be occupied by the owner; and that for short-term rentals, the whole property must be rented.
Question
What do you think about relaxing ADU requirements, and the potential increase of these units being built/established? A sound affordable housing initiative or a neighborhood nuisance?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
