Explanation
BACKGROUND:
Columbus is growing and is in need of more housing options. This ordinance seeks to amend the Zoning Code, Title 33, to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (“ADUs”), an additional dwelling unit which has a separate and independent means of ingress and egress that is located on the same lot as and is subordinate to a principal dwelling or apartment house, in all residential and apartment residential districts. Currently, ADUs must go through an extensive Council variance procedure to be allowed on residential and apartment residential lots. These revisions will allow ADUs “by right” in residential and apartment residential districts within Chapters 3332 and 3333 subject to specific conditions, allowing them to be built more expeditiously.
ADUs offer solutions for families to provide housing for aging parents or adult children and can provide an additional source of income to contribute to housing stability. Through the increased access to housing and wealth-building opportunities that accessory dwelling units bring, legacy residents will have more options for aging in place with dignity.
ADUs can also be a means of increasing the supply of market-rate and affordable rental housing in a community, and accommodating new growth without dramatic changes to the character of a neighborhood.
The code revisions propose that ADUs must be clearly accessory and subordinate in scale to a principal dwelling or apartment house, and include allowances for interior/internal, attached, or detached ADUs. They also include specific provisions related to the maximum number of ADUs allowed; maximum height and size; exemptions for parking, frontage, and lot width requirements; increased lot coverage; reduced side and rear yard standards; and increased home occupation. These provisions were established by analyzing ADU legislation from other U.S. cities and jurisdictions as well as the variance requests and issued building permits for ADUs in Columbus between ...
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