After legalizing accessory dwelling units in 2016, the city of Ann Arbor hasn't added many accessory dwelling units. Some regulations designed to limit the number of ADUs developed have made the building type impossibly cost prohibitive.
"[The] Ann Arbor city council is considering ways to make it easier for homeowners to create accessory dwelling units on their property," reports Lauren Slagter.
After achieving very little development of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) since approving an ordinance to allow the construction and rental of accessory dwelling units in 2016, the Ann Arbor City Council is ready to retool the ordinance to encourage more development.
"The ordinance included restrictions intended to prevent the proliferation of ADUs across the city, and now city council thinks the restrictions may have worked too well," according to Slagter.
Most of the lack of ADU development in the city is credited to the high cost of building the units. According to Slagter, the city already dropped a previous requirement for every detached ADU to have its own water and sewer hookup, separate from the main house. Removing that requirement dropped the price of constructing an ADU by $20,000 to $30,000. Possible refinements of the city's ADU ordinance include removing maximum size regulations; removing minimum lot size requirements; allowing ADUs on lots with single-famly zones, regardless of zoning; and more.
FULL STORY: Ann Arbor looks to make it easier to build accessory apartments
Spreading the Parking Reform Love Around Downtown Houston
Two downtown-adjacent neighborhoods would no longer require parking for new developments under a proposal under consideration in the city of Houston.
ADUs, Minimum Lot Sizes, and Quadplexes Under Discussion in Traverse City
Zoning changes for everything from housing density to minimum lot sizes are under consideration for a city on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Landmark Land Use Bill Fails in Colorado Legislature
Colorado Governor Jared Polis’s effort to allow for more housing construction by preempting local control of zoning failed to achieve the required level of political support in the state legislature.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association