Commerce committee refers planner-edited ADU ordinance to assembly, asks staff to refine utility language

The Haines Borough Commerce Committee on Feb. 24 moved to refer a planner-edited accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance to the assembly for introduction and further community review.

Under the planner’s revisions discussed in committee, an ADU would be allowed up to 1,000 square feet and no larger than 70% of the primary dwelling’s size; ADUs need not be attached to the primary residence. The planner added a lower building-height cap for ADUs, parking requirements intended to protect on-street availability for neighbors, and a conditional-use-permit (CUP) requirement in cases where minimum lot size concerns arise.

Committee members noted the ordinance replaces the older “accessory apartment” provision (a 600-square-foot attached apartment in the town site) with a more permissive, modern definition to facilitate smaller, distributed housing options. The committee discussed utility-billing practice and asked staff to wordsmith the draft so it aligns with current billing: the borough typically issues one customer account per parcel, billed for multiple units, rather than separate customer accounts for each unit.

The committee agreed the assembly is the appropriate venue for the broader community discussion and moved to refer the planner’s edited ordinance to the assembly for introduction. Staff and the planner will make technical edits to the application and billing language and then return the ordinance for introduction at the assembly; the committee discussed a tentative target introduction date of March 10.

The planner and committee emphasized that ADUs are intended to be smaller accessory residences—“not a second dwelling of full size like a duplex”—and that existing land-use permit criteria and utility standards will continue to apply.