In Plymouth, the number of accessory dwelling units or ADU’s in town is slowly increasing. This, according to Planning Board Chair Steven Bolotin. An ADU, or accessory dwelling unit, is a living space sometimes created above the garage or in a breezeway—this, in order to add a one bedroom living area to an existing property. But now, an ADU can also be a detached one-bedroom dwelling on a single house lot. And it can be done as-of-right according to the accessory dwelling bylaw. So what does as-of-right mean in practical terms?
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more…
Planning Board Chairman Steven Bolotin says in the fall of 2023…
“…Plymouth Town Meeting passed the Plymouth ADU bylaw. So that was a bylaw that created accessory dwelling units as a matter of right—meaning that where they’re permitted they’re allowed to go without a special permit, and those had certain restrictions on them.”
Bolitin says ADU’s are permitted in any residential district…
“..and it’s residential districts only. So you can’t add them as part of a commercial building or other area—and only where single family homes are. So you can’t do it if you have an apartment complex or an existing multi-family, you can’t add on an additional unit.”
And so that does mean…
“…meeting all of your set-back requirements. It means meeting height restrictions. It also means you have to be meeting all of your septic and other sewer requirements. And you also need to be in compliance with parking requirements.“
But Bolotin says the building of ADU’s got off to a slow start…
“…so for 2024, we only had a few that came in. But since February of this year, we’ve had 18 permit applications filed—17 now have building permits.’
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.