Those with secondary housing units in two historic neighborhoods have been granted more time to register formerly illegal units.
Duplexes, mother-in-law suites, apartments over garages and all other accessory dwelling units built illegally must now register by June 30 instead of March 31. However, those that don’t register by March 31 will pay a $200 application fee instead of $100.
The extension and increased fee was approved by the Durango City Council during a meeting Tuesday evening.
However Mayor Sweetie Marbury did express skepticism for the increased application fee.
“To me being more punitive is not a good plan,” she said.
So far, 125 units have been registered in established neighborhood one, the area east of East Third Avenue and north of First Street and established neighborhood two along Main Avenue from about 16th Street to about 32nd Street.
Since ADUs were legalized about six months ago in these neighborhoods, the city has only recently started processing two building permits for new ADUs.
Even through more than 100 units have been registered, the city planners suspect that many other units exist.
Councilor Christina Rinderle suggested that fear was preventing the ADU owners from coming forward because they may face thousands in fees based on the year the ADU was built.
Those who own ADUs built after 1989 will have to pay the fees that would have applied the year the unit was built. The fees have been capped at about $7,000.
Right now, city planners are allowing existing ADUs to remain on lots where new units will not be allowed to exist, said Nicol Killian the city’s planning manager. The city has also set up a payment plan for ADU owners to pay fees back over five years.
The City Council will consider the new ADU rules for East Animas City at the next meeting. The rules for East Animas City will largely mirror the rules in place for other neighborhoods, but the area will have a specific lot-size requirements for new ADUs.
The Planning Commission recommended a minimum 7,500 square-foot lot size last week, and the city planners recommended a minimum 8,500 square foot requirement.
The smaller lot size would allow ADUs on about 75 percent of the properties, while the larger lot size would allow only 45 percent properties to have an ADU.
Rinderle supported the smaller lot size requirement Tuesday because it might allow for more affordable housing in town.
“It does allow for more eligibility, I think we are trying to promote that,” she said.
But the councilors did not come to a clear consensus on the issue.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
