Comments on Building accessory dwellings in Montgomery County can be easier and more predictable - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by Woody Brosnan

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 11:56:46 EDT

Woody Brosnan wrote,

As a civic leader in Montgomery County I have been trying to bridge the gap on this issue so we can have change without alarming residents. I proposed the cap, which is pegged to roughly 1 per cent of the county's stock of single-family homes, because I believe it will allow for an orderly growth of the marketplace and an orderly growth in the budget for housing inspectors. The cap can always be raised if the demand grows. I was gratified that the Planning Board adopted the cap and I hope housing advocates would support the cap as a reasonable first step toward making it easier for homeowners to build accessory apartments.

Comment by jmc

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:20:41 EDT

The current situation with accessory apartments in MoCo has become so knotted, it will take time and focused effort to untangle and resolve. It remains to be seen if Ike and the County Council will dedicate resources to figuring out a safe, fair and complete set of rules. Yes, accessory apartments are great for generating income from one's property for whatever reason.

Most accessory apartments will work out fine. But the County has to protect against the "worst case" scenarios which most communities won't see but some communities are inundated with. These include all the illegal, unsafe and maybe discriminatory behavior of homeowners toward tenants (see Aspen Hill comments in WashPost Real Estate article a few weeks ago).

If homeowners think the current process through Board of Appeals is long and cumbersome, how will the County guarantee that a process led by understaffed DHCA will be any better? One of the major impediments to declaring an accessory apartment is the cost of building to code. It's the $thousands in renovation costs (20 minute doors, windows that allow someone to escape from a basement during a fire, bedrooms of a certain size per inhabitant, wiring, etc) that deter compliance. How will the County deal with the continued code enforcement problem?

A 2004 report by Planning Staff reviewed 7 regions that had eased accessory apartment rules. There was no difference in license applications with eased rules.

The County needs to spend a little more time figuring out what exactly is wrong with all aspects of the accessory apartments problem before tossing this hot potato from Bd of Appeals to DHCA.

Comment by sb

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:03:51 EDT

I wanted to recommend a book that (despite this not being at all its goal) really drove home the importance of accessory dwellings. It's called Next Stop http://www.amazon.com/Next-Stop-Memoir-Glen-Finland/dp/039915860X and is about a family with an autistic teenager they're helping get ready for independence. They live in the DC area (Arlington, I'm guessing from the book) and teaching the son to ride the metro is huge for his freedom, finding work, etc. They talk about the toll living with him places on their marriage and it made me realize how awesome it would be if they could build a little house in their back yard, buy a place with an apartment over the garage, etc. I don't know why they didn't (it's not in the book) but the easier it is for homeowners in Arlington, MoCo, etc. to build such dwellings, the easier it would be for families like the Finlands to move into them.

Comment by Kate

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:31:14 EDT

@Jasper: The specificity of the rules is better than the current situation which is a general statement towards not undue density.

Comment by Richard Layman

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:02:26 EDT

nice piece, good list of resources. I agree with Jasper that the rules seem arbitrary, then again, it's MoCo so I am ok with that, since I live in DC.

I do plan to do a not dissimilar piece wrt the ADU issue in DC.

In association with the forthcoming code revision proposal in DC, I hope to pull off organizing an open house of a number of alley communities in SE DC as well as some carriage houses here and there in NE and NW, as an event in the fall, to promote better regulations, and to emphasize the point that ADUs are something good, not something bad.

Comment by Jasper

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:31:37 EDT

The rules seem rather arbitrary and burdensome. Especially the cap, and the 300-500 separation clauses will lead to weird situations where people can not build because their 5th door neighbor in the next cul-de-sac already has one. This is very unfair.

Comment by Ben Ross

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:05:16 EDT

The idea that this will lead to middle-class flight has it backwards. Allowing accessory apartments by right will help make Montgomery County houses affordable for the middle class.

Houses in many parts of Montgomery are too expensive to buy on a middle-class income alone. Renting out an accessory apartment makes a big house more affordable. But as long as homebuyers face uncertainty as to whether they will get a permit, banks will not count the rental income in deciding whether the buyer is qualified for a mortgage.

In other parts of the county, middle-class homeowners whose incomes have declined are being driven out by foreclosure. Renting out an apartment can save a home. But people fighting off foreclosure are in no position to go through a lengthy and expensive public hearing process -- they need automatic approval.