The subject of accessory dwelling units in Durango and whether relaxed restrictions are appropriate in a high-cost housing market appears to be more complicated than perhaps once anticipated.
Durango City Council reconvened after the new year at a study session earlier this month where the first order of business was to resume an ongoing conversation about ADUs in Durango.
Proponents say ADUs are another tool for bulking up the city’s housing inventory, and they are a way for multigenerational households to keep their families living in close proximity. Opponents say ADUs congest traffic, strain utilities, take up parking spaces and otherwise threaten neighborhood character.
Durango Community Development Director Jayme Lopko said the city has worked over the past year to compile data on its inventory of ADUs, which has proved complicated because of outstanding documentation issues.
Some ADUs are only partially documented, for example, with homeowners having started a registration process but leaving it incomplete. Enforcement of standards by the city appears to be complaint based, and identification of ADUs in code violation is a hurdle all in its own right, Lopko said.
She said ADUs typically make up 1.5% of the city’s overall housing stock. About 160 ADU units are documented to be approved by the city.
Twenty-five of those units are “legally nonconforming,” meaning they were built before 1941 and are not required to meet city regulations, she said. Sixty-six units were built between 1915 and 1941 and were registered through a voluntary registration process launched by the city, and 70 of the ADUs were built after the voluntary registration process closed and were constructed with contemporary regulations in place.
An ordinance to eliminate minimum parcel areas for detached ADUs was scheduled for a first reading by City Council this week. It was tabled last fall and is likely to be tabled again until at least February.
Councilors indicated they’d like to resolve enforcement issues and collect more information about impacts to neighborhood density and utility services should ADU restrictions be loosened before they move forward one way or another with the ordinance.
Lopko said the city is aware of 70 existing ADUs that either did not complete registration requirements or don’t meet requirements of the city’s voluntary registration program, which was launched in 2014 and closed in 2016. The city is still trying to figure out how to handle those ADUs.
Further, it’s difficult to determine whether some units are legal because of missing documentation in some cases and a tricky regulatory process, she said.
It can be difficult for staff members to distinguish between a detached ADU, a detached duplex and an additional living space.
“We have what’s called a detached duplex, which basically looks like two homes on a property or a unit above a garage and a home on a property, which can be very much mistaken for an ADU,” she said.
The city has far fewer restrictions for detached duplexes than it does for ADUs, she said. Sometimes, property owners will add an additional living space that doesn’t meet the threshold for an ADU – until after the city has inspected their space.
“The other complication is some of the property owners add living space to their property. You can add a bedroom and a bathroom above your garage. That’s not an ADU. That’s just living space,” she said. “We ask you to sign what’s called a non-living agreement with that, that basically stipulates you understand this is not a dwelling unit. You cannot add a stove in there.”
She said ADUs are defined as dwellings independent of living facilities for one or more people that feature “permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.”
The city only responds to potential ADU violations reported by residents and neighbors, she said.
She said the city is implementing steps to ensure its ADU inventory is kept up to date. It is implementing a mailing list of ADU owners to ensure a database of owners is updated and maintained regularly.
Those letters are expected to be sent by the end of January or sometime in February, she said. In the event a homeowner refuses to comply with requirements, the city can ask for an ADU to be removed.
She said the city prefers giving residents the chance to voluntary come into compliance, but rarely it will work with code enforcement to issue a notice of violation and, if necessary, take the issue to court.
Councilor Jessika Loyer said ADU noncompliance is an issue in many communities, especially ones dealing with high housing costs.
She said reasonable ADU requirements are a balancing act that requires an understanding of how increased density impacts utilities and infrastructure, and how increased density includes not just ADUs but short-term rentals and how that density impacts roads, parks and other features.
She said community outreach to specific neighborhoods that would be impacted by having more ADUs is also important.
cburney@durangoherald.com
