An Online Portal for Designing Accessory Dwelling Units

The ADUniverse website offers pre-approved designs for homeowners who want to add Accessory Dwelling Units on properties in Seattle.

1 minute read

September 17, 2020, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Accessory Dwelling Unit

Nicolás Boullosa / Flickr

The city of Seattle recently rolled out a website called ADUniverse to make it easier for homeowners to add accessory dwelling units in the city. According to an article by Doug Trumm, the ADUniverse site offers ten "pre-approved accessory dwelling unit (ADU) designs and other information to help homeowners navigate the process of adding a backyard cottage or mother-in-law apartment (or two) to their lot."

The website goes online a little over a year after the Seattle City Council approved a package of long-awaited zoning reforms intended to increase the number of ADUs built around the city and curb the proliferation of mansionization projects on single-family residential lots.

Since the June approval of the city's new ADU rules, planners in the city have been generating the pre-approved designs, according to Trumm, leaning on the local architecture community for designs. The effort met controversy along the way after architects accused the city of failing to compensate the labor necessary to create the designs.

Trumm adds a note of caution to homeowners interested in adding an ADU in the near future—though the website is designed to ease the process, "a considerable amount of fees and hoops to jump through remain, including a site plan."

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 in The Urbanist

View down New York City alleyway at nighttime

Red Cities, Blue Cities, and Crime

Homicides rose across the nation in 2020 and 2021. But did they rise equally in all cities, or was the situation worse in some than in others?

March 12, 2023 - Michael Lewyn

babyt Boomer Homeowners

The Shifting Boomer Bulge: More Bad News for America’s Housing Crisis?

In the first of a two-part series, PlaceMakers’ Ben Brown interviews housing guru Arthur C. Nelson on the sweeping demographic changes complicating the housing market.

March 12, 2023 - PlaceShakers and NewsMakers

Yellow on black "Expect Delays" traffic sign

A Serious Critique of Congestion Costs and Induced Vehicle Travel Impacts

Some highway advocates continue to claim that roadway expansions are justified to reduce traffic congestion. That's not what the research shows. It's time to stop obsessing over congestion and instead strive for efficient accessibility.

March 14, 2023 - Todd Litman

A toll payment facility in Florida.

Tolling All Lanes

Bay Area transportation planners are studying a radical idea to reduce traffic congestion and fund driving alternatives: tolling all lanes on a freeway. Even more radical, the plan considers tolling parallel roads.

1 hour ago - San Francisco Chronicle

Close-up of person holding up smartphone next to contactless fare reading device on bus

Federal SMART Grants Awarded for Transportation Safety, Equity Projects

The grant program focuses on the use of technology to improve safety, accessibility, and efficiency in transportation.

2 hours ago - U.S. Department Of Transportation

Seattle Transit

Fare Enforcement Upheld by Washington Supreme Court

But using armed police to enforce fare payment is less than ideal in the eyes of the top court in the state of Washington.

3 hours ago - Crosscut

Planner II

City of Greenville

Planner I

City of Greenville

Rural Projects Coordinator (RARE AmeriCorps Member)

Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps Program

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.