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City staff introduces accessory dwelling unit options; owners, neighbors will decide next steps
Summary
Planning staff presented accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as a potential housing tool, outlining types, benefits (income, housing flexibility) and regulatory choices (zones, size limits, owner-occupancy, conditional use vs by-right); staff said enforcement of owner-occupancy is a common challenge and recommended community input.
Planning staff introduced accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to the commission as a topic to explore further rather than an immediate policy change. Brian Howard, ONPC executive director, told commissioners an ADU is "a smaller secondary residential unit that's on the same property with a primary residential unit," and outlined common forms — detached cottages, attached units, above-garage apartments and basement conversions.
Howard said ADUs can increase homeowner income and housing options, and cited research that an ADU "can potentially increase your home value by 35% on resale," while cautioning that studies vary. He described trade-offs including possible changes to neighborhood character, lost yard space for detached ADUs, added parking demands and tenant-management responsibilities.
On regulatory options, Howard said communities typically allow ADUs in single-family residential and some agricultural zones and commonly limit properties to one ADU. He described size limits used elsewhere (for example, starting points around 50% of the primary structure's footprint), and noted detached ADUs generally must meet rear/side yard setbacks. He identified owner-occupancy rules as an enforcement challenge and said Louisville includes owner-occupancy but struggled with long-term enforcement; "I don't know" how enforcement will function, he said.
Howard and staff named other Kentucky jurisdictions they reviewed — Louisville, Paducah, Bowling Green, Lexington and Oldham County — and offered to draft ordinance language if the commission wants to pursue changes. During public comment a homeowner asked whether short-term rentals would face additional taxation; City Manager Nate Pagan explained the local transient (occupancy) tax applies to short stays and stated the local rate is 4% for short-term rentals.
Next steps: staff recommended community engagement and policy drafting if the commission wishes to proceed; no ordinance was proposed or voted on at this meeting.
