The Chilmark planning board held a public hearing Monday on a proposed bylaw that would permit accessory apartments in order to allow for the creation of much-needed year-round affordable apartments or apartments that could be offered as rental or free housing to a homeowner’s caregivers or family members. Most of those in attendance were town officials or affordable housing advocates.
The current draft zoning bylaw amendment defines an accessory apartment as “a separate living area (attached to or detached from the principal dwelling) which is equipped with a kitchen, a bathroom, and a separate entrance and is intended for accessory use to a single-family dwelling on any sized lot.”
The homeowner would not have to be a year-round resident of Chilmark in order to rent the unit at an affordable rate. The homeowner would have to live on the property in either the principal home or the accessory apartment if the unit is occupied by a caregiver or family member.
Sometimes an elderly resident would choose to downsize to the accessory apartment and have the caregiver or family member live in the principal home, allowing elders to “age in place and enrich our community,” said bylaw crafter and housing committee member Jessica Roddy. “It also addresses our wish to try and keep families together in a place where the real estate is extraordinarily expensive.”
In either case, the principal home and the accessory apartment must be owned by the same party, and the accessory apartment would require a special permit.
“What happens if the owner lives in the accessory apartment? What restrictions are there on renting out the main house?” asked Peter Temple, healthy aging task force executive director. Ms. Roddy said, “The owner can move into the accessory apartment and whatever the bylaws allow with respect to the main house would apply.”
There was some discussion as to whether or not the principal home must then be rented at an affordable rental or be available at market value. “That is interesting,” planning board member Joan Malkin said. There was no answer to the question.
Apartment size is restricted to 800 square feet if the property meets the requirements for a guest house, or 400 square feet on substandard lots.
If a property is sold, the special permit would remain in force, but a “non-use” clause would apply if the space is not needed. Homeowners would not be permitted to turn the apartment into a market-value rental.
The bylaw defines caregivers as “an adult who looks after the elderly, chronically sick, or disabled person who requires such assistance.” The bylaw does not apply to a property caretaker. Immediate family members are defined as children, grandchildren, parents, and in-laws.
“We initially framed it on the West Tisbury model that has been highly successful, and we’ve expanded it to meet our needs up here,” housing committee member Ann Wallace told The Times prior to the hearing. One difference she said was to open the category of use to a caregiver.
The Chilmark building inspector and the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority (DCRHA) would monitor compliance. The homeowner would submit an annual filing, and anything suspicious would be addressed by a “strongly worded letter,” said housing authority executive director David Vigneault.
West Tisbury has 45 listed accessory apartments, and in 12 years, only two have been suspect, he said. “Less than half are rented year-round and the rest are in family use,” explained Mr. Vigneault. “The honor system is such that it is. The couple of times we’ve had those concerns raised, we’ve knocked on doors and checked it out.”
“It may not be perfect, but it does have a review every five years when we can discuss what we like about it, and it serves some purpose that is good,“ concluded Ms. Roddy. The planning board moved to continue its public hearing to a second meeting at 4:30 pm on December 22.