Alexandria is moving closer to allowing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
Thursday evening, the City of Alexandria hosted a virtual meeting to go over how the city came to the current drafted policy for ADUs and answer community questions.
ADUs, sometimes referred to as “granny apartments,” are basement apartments, garage apartments, or new structures not attached to the house. These are separate dwellings with their own bathroom, kitchen and sleeping area and a separate entrance from the main house.
The city began studying ADUs in March in an effort to increase availability, affordability and flexibility of housing and add value to current owners.
Some residents have pushed back on allowing ADUs at all, voicing concerns about parking, increased density in residential neighborhoods, noise and environmental concerns.
City Rules Take Shape
City staff are working on a wide variety of rules to address resident concerns.
To reduce run-off from the material used to construct driveways, off street parking would not be required for ADUs. To not further increase the demand for parking, no required parking spots would be removed for ADUs.
Short-term rentals would be allowed for ADUs, but it would not be allowed to short-term rent out both the main property and the ADU at the same time. To help keep these properties in check, they will have to comply with the property noise restrictions.
With the goal of matching where ADUs have historically been located on properties in the area, the proposal would allow for ACUs to be built 1 foot from the edge of the property, if there is a window on the side facing the edge of the property the structure will have to be 3 feet from the property's edge. These guidelines would follow the rules already in place for garages and sheds.
People seeking to build an ADU will have to acquire a special permit from the city before getting a building permit. This will allow city staff to make sure owners understand the restrictions and for easier follow-up if concerns and complaints arise. The permit system would also allow the city to monitor the concentration of ADUs.
Owners will have to live on the property in order to have an ADU in operation.
In the discussion, concerns were brought up about how ADUs would impact neighboring property and local traffic. City representatives addressed these concerns by sighting studies showing that these dwellings have minimal impact to the neighbors and do increase neighboring property values.
Final recommendations will be made by Nov. 30 and be considered by the Planning Commission on Dec. 1. City Council will make a final ruling on Dec. 12 with the possibility of finalization in January or February. Comments can be made through November 6 at the project website.
