The Seattle City Council is currently considering ways to ease regulations to increase the number of backyard cottages. Of these, the one proposal that would be most likely to have an impact, and one that we are opposed to, would be to eliminate the owner occupancy requirement for accessory dwelling units. Currently, to add an accessory dwelling unit you must live in either the primary residence or the accessory unit for a minimum of six months out of the year. This requirement is almost universal among municipalities that allow accessory dwelling units. Why? It is widely believed that having the owner living in the unit will minimize the impact of having what could otherwise be considered multi-family housing within single family zones. More importantly, it also restricts the types of investors that can buy and hold these properties. Currently purchasing a single family residences as rental property is cost prohibitive which favors owner occupants. However, if developers are allowed to build two units on a single family zoned lot it becomes a much more attractive investment package for a absentee landlord. This would further escalate the prices for single family zoned land and houses.
Owner occupants act differently than developers in a number of important ways. To a home owner building a back yard cottage is a major long term investment. The majority of homeowners finance their cottages with cash or by taking equity out of their primary residence. This makes them cautious by necessity. Also, the primary impact of their development is going to be on their lot and in their neighborhood. When we begin a project a typical client wish list contains the desire to minimize the impact to their neighbors. We have and continue to work with residential developers. Not once has one of them expressed the least concern over how the neighbors might be impacted by their development.
