Council sends accessory-dwelling ordinance back to committee after heated debate

The Milwaukee Common Council debated a proposed change to the city zoning code that would allow accessory dwelling units and voted 10-5 to send the item back to the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee for more work.

Alderman Robert Baumann, sponsor of the file addressing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), told the council the amendment sought to create a clear definition and a “limited use” pathway so qualifying ADUs could be permitted without additional hearings. “We have been discussing the issue of housing for a year, year and a half,” Baumann said, adding that zoning changes alone do not create housing but can provide tools the market can use when economics allow.

Council members who opposed the substitute raised three recurring concerns: allowing interior or attached ADUs in single-family zones could effectively change single-family lots into duplexes; converting existing multi-unit buildings could trigger state commercial building-code requirements (including sprinklers) that make conversions cost-prohibitive; and internal or attached ADUs could accelerate investor-owned rentals or short-term rentals in neighborhoods with large student or rental populations.

The substitute that Councilmembers debated removed internal and attached ADUs…