Image by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Boston wasn’t covered by the otherwise statewide legalization of accessory dwelling units last year thanks to a quirk in state zoning law. But officials there say they are trying to help the city catch up.
What city officials hope will be a big step in that direction showed up on City Hall Plaza Monday, and opened to the public Tuesday morning: a 460-square-foot accessory dwelling unit from modular builder Backyard ADUs.
Right now, only so-called “internal” ADUs are legal in Boston, meaning homeowners can carve an extra unit out of an attic, basement or other area inside an existing building. The properties have to be owner-occupied.
“But those can be complex and costly to build, especially if you’re dealing with an older structure,” said Paige Roosa, director of the city’s Housing Innovation Lab, limiting the number that can be built.
State data shows only 44 ADUs were permitted in Boston in the first 12 months of legalization, part of around 1,200 OK’d statewide. That was the most of any town or city in the state, followed by 34 in Plymouth and 32 in Lawrence.
But when adjusted for each community’s size, Lawrence permitted over six times as many ADUs per household as Boston, while Plymouth permitted over eight times as many per household.
That’s where larger residential lots in neighborhoods like West Roxbury, Roslindale and Hyde Park come in, Roosa said. In the city’s estimation, larger lots – especially corner lots – have a much better ability to host the kind of detached ADU that firms like Backyard ADUs specialize in.
“The hope is that, with a zoning change, that would then allow us to support homeowners building these detached ADUs without a special permitting process or holding a hearing. But we need to do that with community support,” Roosa said.
Bringing the model ADU to City Hall Plaza is a key part of that, she said.
“By getting folks out on City Hall Plaza and seeing what’s possible, we can start garnering that community support,” Roosa said.
In testimony to the City Council last week, Chief of Planning Kairos Shen promised progress on a citywide zoning-standardization effort called “Neighborhood Housing” covering eight city neighborhoods that would, among other things, create room in city zoning for detached ADUs. Past presentations by city officials have added that the effort’s intent is also to make it easier for homeowners to make small renovations without having to go through the same long, cumbersome zoning variance process that large developments face, and unlock small-scale by-right housing development.
In the coming weeks, Shen said, the Planning Department would launch “a campaign to make sure we’re letting every resident know we’re doing this work and inviting them into public meetings before we make recommendations to the Zoning Commission.”
