Community Government
City revamping its laws on ADUs, aka ‘mother-in-laws’ or ‘granny flats’
Whom do you think of when you hear the term “mother-in-law unit?”
Do you think of a family member? Perhaps a younger relative, like a nephew, or an elder parent? Or do you think of a renter who has finally found an affordable place in a town where they work, but would not otherwise be able to live?
“If you talk to people,” local architect Marlene Druker said, “they will tell you that they’re afraid of living with people who are renters — like renters are a different species.”
“You’ve got to break down those barriers and say, ‘Wasn’t there a time in your life when you were a renter?’” she continued, ‘and were you a bad person then?’”
City amending its ADU laws
Gig Harbor-ites will get the chance to weigh in on how they feel about renters living in accessory dwelling units — also known as “granny flats,” “mother-in-law units,” or by the acronym ADUs — on Monday, April 28. That’s when the City Council holds a hearing on changes to the city ordinance governing ADUs.
A 2023 state law mandated that cities and counties overhaul regulations regarding ADUs, as part of an effort to combat Washington’s housing crisis. Gig Harbor was required to amend its ADU laws as part of its decennial comprehensive plan update.
Breaking down the barriers Druker mentioned is especially critical now. Forty percent of Washington state’s population rent, and 50% of American renter households are “cost-burdened” — meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. Washington has the sixth-highest rent levels in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 30% of renters in the state are cost-burdened.
Like many other municipalities across the state, Gig Harbor faces an affordable housing crisis. A perfect storm of factors — wages not keeping up with inflation, skyrocketing mortgage rates, lingering impacts of the COVID pandemic, the trade war — means that nearly everyone across the U.S. feels the squeeze in their wallets.
This financial insecurity is particularly acute for young people and those living on fixed incomes, especially when trying to find a place to live.
Changing state laws
In an effort to combat the state’s housing crisis, the Legislature in 2021 passed a law requiring Washington’s cities and counties to include a housing plan element in their comprehensive plan updates. Comprehensive land-use plans are required by the state’s Growth Management Act.
The 2021 law requires cities to accommodate all income levels and provide emergency and permanent supportive housing. The 2023 law mandating overhauls of ADU laws followed on the heels of this 2021 law.
ADUs have traditionally been used to house elder family members, like a grandparent. They are smaller dwellings and tend to share a plot of land with a main residence, usually a single-family house.
Termed “accessory apartments” in official city law, Gig Harbor’s existing regulations regarding ADUs are much more stringent than the new state law allows.
To begin with, Gig Harbor limits the size of its ADUs to 600 square feet. The new law requires that municipalities set a minimum size of 1,000 square feet for an ADU.
The city has proposed setting a maximum limit of 1,200 square feet, which much more closely aligns with Pierce County regulations. (Pierce County laws govern parts of the Gig Harbor area outside city limits — like Rosedale, Purdy, and Fox Island. County laws regarding ADUs have also undergone revision, per the GMA mandate.)
Other changes to ADU laws
Then there’s the residency requirement. Gig Harbor’s existing law requires that ADUs “be under the same ownership as the primary residential unit with the owner living on-site in either unit.”
The proposed new ordinance — as mandated in state law — includes no residency requirement. Furthermore, also in accordance with state law, up to two ADUs may be built on a lot, so long as their construction does not exceed allowable lot coverage or creep into setback requirements for the zone in which they are built. ADUs will not contribute to density requirements of the zone.
The proposed ordinance also allows for lots that hold duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, or “other housing” units to have ADUs. That is a significant departure from the current law’s stipulation that only single-family residences in a residential zone can have ADUs. The proposed ordinance also changes the definitions of the aforementioned kinds of structures.
Keeping Gig Harbor accessible to all
A couple years ago, Druker advocated for ADUs in a two-part guest column for Gig Harbor Now. Druker still feels positively about ADUs now, and sees them as an important option to increase housing affordability — especially for the very people who work in the places Gig Harbor’s residents like to frequent.
“We have restaurants we like to go to, and stores we like to go to,” Druker said. “Don’t we want these people to be able to live in the communities where they serve? … If you severely limit how many housing units could be on this valuable land, then only rich people can live here. And it creates all sorts of problems when only rich people can live here.”
The hearing on the city’s new ADU law will be part of the Gig Harbor City Council meeting that begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, at the Civic Center on Grandview Street. The meeting can also be accessed via Zoom.