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Planning Commission advances ADU update: staff seeks administrative reviews, shorter approvals and relaxed occupancy rules
Summary
Staff proposed a broad accessory-dwelling-unit ordinance update to expand ADU viability by moving reviews to administrative procedures, creating a pre-approval review, adopting a 12-month permit window, clarifying enforcement, and removing several occupancy/owner-occupancy restrictions; commissioners generally supported streamlining and asked for specifics on landscaping, setbacks and bedroom-size rules.
Longview City — Planning staff presented a comprehensive update to the city’s ADU ordinance and said the goal is to make ADUs a more viable affordable-housing option by reducing procedural barriers and clarifying enforceable standards.
The draft would transfer ADU reviews to administrative review rather than public hearings for most cases, provide two pathways (a standalone ADU review prior to building-permit design and a concurrent review), and establish a 12-month approval period for applicants to submit a building permit after administrative approval. Staff said they have tracked 20 detached ADUs in the records but cautioned that permit tracking has been inconsistent and the true number of ADUs is likely higher.
On enforcement and occupancy, staff proposed removing confusing certificate-of-occupancy and secondary-COO procedures and relying on existing building and code-enforcement processes. The draft also removes several specific occupancy limits that staff said were difficult to enforce without intrusive inspections.
Commissioners debated several specifics: some urged removing landscaping and two-story privacy mandates, others favored relying on existing zone setbacks rather than a 10-foot exterior-entrance standard, and several questioned bedroom-count or three-bedroom thresholds for larger ADUs. A commissioner supported removing the owner-occupancy requirement and lifting the short-term-rental prohibition, noting some short-term listings currently violate existing rules.
"We've had ADUs for just over three years; it’s a good time to come back and take a look at it," staff said, noting opportunities to streamline review, standardize manufactured-home age limits (staff proposed changing a 10-year threshold to five years for consistency), and adopt an early site-plan review procedure that could reduce later delays.
Why it matters: The proposal aims to reduce delays and costs for homeowners seeking to build ADUs and clarify which standards the city can realistically enforce. Removing some occupancy and owner-occupancy requirements could increase ADU production but will require clear enforcement approaches to address neighbor concerns.
What’s next: Staff said they will finalize the draft, circulate it more broadly to departments, and aim to schedule hearings in July–September under the 90-day ordinance timeline; commissioners asked staff to return with clarified landscaping, privacy, setback and bedroom-size language.
Sources: Staff presentation and commissioner discussion during the Longview City Planning Commission workshop (transcript).
