City looks to accessory units as a potential assist in housing crisis

The City of Whitefish is working to make adjustments to the rules on constructing accessory dwelling units in an attempt to help with the shortage of housing for local residents.

City Council discussed the proposed changes for the first time at its meeting last week but in the absence of a clear resolution decided to postpone the vote. Council will hold a work session on April 18 to continue the discussion.

The goal of the changes is to streamline the building process so more ADUs could help create additional housing for residents. According to City Senior Planner Wendy Compton-Ring, the proposed changes are the result of several meetings of the Whitefish Planning Board and the Housing Steering Committee.

In March the Planning Board unanimously supported the adjustments to the ADU regulations, however, Council remains hesitant to approve them without further discussion.

The proposed changes to the code include the ability of a property owner to rent both the ADU and the single-family dwelling. Additionally, the ADU size restriction would be increased from 600 to 800 square feet and an ADU would be allowed to be freestanding, that is, not built atop an existing garage or other building.

Should an applicant volunteer to deed restrict the ADU for a limited term of five years, it wouldn’t be necessary to obtain a conditional use permit, thereby knocking three months off the process. Furthermore, there would no longer be parking requirement and the city proposes using financial incentives in the form of impact fee and building fee reimbursements.

Though the intention of the changes to ADU regulations is to create additional residential housing for locals, it also presents some potential issues.

Several citizens gave public testimony at the meeting and expressed opinions both for and against the proposed changes. One of Whitefish resident Rhonda Fitzgerald’s concerns was about how the changes could actually hurt the city’s housing issues.

“The bones of this are good, but we need to look at the implication of each part… because otherwise we are supercharging people building things that no one’s going to live in and really accelerating the increase in cost to buy a home,” she said.

Another resident, Nathan Dugan, spoke during public comment in favor of the changes.

“There's only one thing that guarantees we won’t get more housing for our workers and that is refusing to build any more housing,” he said. “We don't need to be regulating these things (ADUs) any more than we do a home… it doesn’t make any sense.”

“We're scared of a lot of things, yes. This has proven to be the least scary thing that exists in Whitefish and I think we should keep that in mind,” Dugan remarked.

It also was acknowledged by council at the meeting that accessory units are one way of helping with the housing shortage, but not the complete solution.

Councilor Rebecca Norton noted, “People think that once we get the ADUs in place all of our housing worries are going to be gone. I just want to remind people it’s one solution — we’re working on many solutions.”

Compton-Ring also supplied information from a survey she completed two years ago which found that only 39 ADUs were permitted to be constructed in the past 17 years while nearly 2000 residential units were built.

“Rebecca’s totally right, we’re not going to solve all our affordable housing problems with this one housing type. But it is an option,” Compton-RIng said.

The fact is that few ADUs are currently being rented, let alone rented to locals. The uses for ADUs are numerous and can change as the property owner ages, Compton-Ring pointed out. She said they are most often used as offices, guest spaces, and residences for grandparents and caregivers.

A few changes to terminology were also addressed in the meeting. Once called accessory apartments, structures of this kind are now called accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Additionally, the city says the term ‘workforce housing’ discriminates against residents who may not be in the workforce but do need housing; the term used now is ‘local resident housing’. Currently, area median income (AMI) is a variable used to determine if a person qualifies for affordable housing but the term ‘workforce’ is problematic.

City Attorney Angela Jacobs explained the reason for adjusting the language.

“There's been some concern if you’re deed restricting for local workers. There are people that are locals that are not necessarily within the workforce,” she said. “There’s people who are retired that still need housing. There’s people who are disabled that still need housing. So it’s problematic from a legal standpoint and just a practical standpoint to restrict it for people who are actually within the workforce.”

The city also suggests providing a guideline booklet to prospective ADU builders that illustrates some design considerations like color and style choices as well as window placements. Additionally, it illustrates ways to provide private outdoor spaces to tenants with the use of screens and landscaping.

After a motion to postpone, Councilor Ben Davis described the topic as a “heavy lift” and suggested scheduling a work session.

“The planning board required multiple meetings and a work session… if folks feel like we’ve got a lot to talk about, perhaps a work session could make sense here,” Davis said.

The work session will be on April 18 before the regular council meeting, then the ADU revisions are planned for the May 2 council meeting agenda.