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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Council approved an ordinance change Tuesday that would make it a little easier to build accessory dwelling units, known as ADUs, in unincorporated residential areas.
An accessory dwelling unit is a secondary residence on the lot of a single-family home, which essentially allows for more people to live on the designated lot. The proposed changes allow homeowners to add units on lots of at least 7,000 square feet instead of 12,000; required setbacks would be reduced, and the units could be up to 20 feet tall. Additional changes to the ordinance reduced the required parking spots for the unit from two to one.
Under current guidelines, only 40% would be eligible for added units. The council previously discussed requiring homeowners to live in the primary home, but Kayla Mauldin, senior long-range planner for the Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District, advised against it Tuesday,
"It's recommended by every guide on ADUs that you allow that flexibility. In some cases, they don't even recommend that occupancy be a requirement, but I think in the case of Salt Lake County, it makes sense to do so," said Mauldin. "Taking away that choice can create some unintended consequences."
Last year, Salt Lake City Council passed a similar ordinance and eliminated conditional use requirements for detached accessory dwelling units. Salt Lake City Council's decision was heavily in response to an ongoing housing shortage. Salt Lake City Councilman Alejandro Puy said at the time of the decision the city needed "all the housing that we can get," and he believed the new ordinance was a "part of the solution."
The housing crisis has prompted several states in the West to look at creative solutions such as easing ADU-related laws. The changes have seemed to make a difference in density and housing stock in states that have adopted such ordinances, like California or Oregon.
Research by the Joint Center for Housing Studies found:
- In Portland, annual permitting of ADUs grew from about 25 ADUs in 2009 to roughly 300 in the past few years.
- In California, permitting of ADUs had grown from less than 1,300 units in 2016, when ADUs represented less than 1% of new housing permits, to almost 25,000 units in 2022, when ADUs accounted for 18% of all new housing units.
The success and interest by residents in permitting ADUs were noted by county planners on Tuesday after confusion regarding the setback adjustments prompted questions on whether a decision could be delayed.
"It would be best if we can adopt what the council is comfortable with and remand the rest just so that we have that evidence to show the state that we are doing our due diligence on meeting those moderate income housing efforts," said Mauldin.
The council voted unanimously to pass an amended version of the proposed ordinance, sending the required setback portion back to the planning commission for further clarification and review.
