Ordinance committee hears accessory dwelling unit (ADU) zoning amendments; items referred to full council

The Committee on Ordinances held public hearings Wednesday on a set of proposed amendments to the city’s accessory dwelling unit (ADU) zoning rules in Chapter 9 and voted to refer the items to the full City Council for further action.

Director of City Planning Jennifer Carloni told the committee the Planning Board had held a prior hearing on ADU changes but that a scheduled Planning Board recommendation was not available for one of the items due to an administrative scheduling error. The chair said that because the planning board did not place the matter on its May 14 agenda, the statutory period for holding the required hearings will lapse if the process is not re‑started from the mayor’s communication.

Committee members adopted motions to receive and place the communications on file and to refer the ordinances to the full council. For the separate ADU ordinance numbered 3A, the committee opened and closed the public hearing (no members of the public spoke) and approved a motion to take no further committee action and to refer the item to the full City Council so the full council can proceed with required communications and hearings.

The chair asked that the administration refile the relevant communications so the planning board can formally review and issue a recommendation. The committee did not make a final decision on the substance of the ADU amendments; rather the actions recorded were procedural: to hear the public hearing(s) in committee and to send the items to the full council for next steps.