Newton City Council met Monday to discuss two amended versions of Newton’s accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance following extensive discussion by the Zoning and Planning Committee (ZAP) to bring the final version into accordance with the Affordable Homes Act.
Of the two proposed versions of the new ADU ordinance, neither went to a vote.
Ward 1 Councilor-at-Large John Oliver had the enhanced, amended version chartered, or held, until the council’s next meeting, and Ward 2 Councilor-at-Large Susan Albright followed suit with the second, state-compliant version.
The amended plan was the subject of the previous eight ZAP meetings, according to ZAP chair and Ward 7 Councilor Lisle Baker.
ZAP previously voted 5–1, with two abstentions, to approve a new ordinance compliant with the new state Affordable Homes Act.
Beyond the state-mandated ordinances, ZAP chose to add further Newton-specific amendments, including a proposal by Albright that increases by-right size allowances for ADUs and increases the ability to create ADUs in pre-existing homes.
ZAP also approved an option without the additional amendments that was put to a vote before the city council.
Baker explained the importance of being thorough and transparent when it comes to ADUs, as they can potentially impact all residents at some point.
“I think it’s important that we show these to the public, because, as opposed to, for example, the MBTA ordinance, which affected a significant minority of the city, this affects virtually all the residential opportunities in the city,” said Baker. “It’s important we understand what’s going on.”
Following Baker’s overview of the added amendments, several councilors came forward to explain their support for approving the ordinance as is.
“I don’t think we need to send this back to the committee,” said Albright. “I think the folks in the committee had their points of view, and I don’t know that they’re going to be changing by sending it back.”
Albright, who serves on ZAP, previously abstained from sending the ordinances to city council, but she explained that she believes it’s important to get the ordinance to move forward.
“So even though it has things in it that I wasn’t happy with, I was going to vote for it,” said Albirght. “I hope that we will pass this tonight, in the hopes that maybe we’ll get a few more ADUs to add to the 121 Newton’s had in the last 40 years.”
War 6 Councilor-at-Large Vicki Danberg agreed with Albright, explaining that she believes the ordinance to be as ready as possible for implementation in the city.
“We have cooked this,” said Danberg. “We’ve had eight meetings on this. This is done, and we’re ready to stick a fork in it.”
Several councilors were unconvinced of the first version’s readiness, particularly regarding the Newton-specific amendments. Ward 5 Councilor-at-Large Rena Getz Escudero expressed her disagreement with Danberg’s sentiments.
“We spent a considerable amount of time on this, and I appreciate everybody’s suggestion that it’s fully baked, but it’s not,” said Getz Escudero.
Oliver explained that he does not believe the additional amendments have been fully understood, specifically in terms of possible loopholes that might still be present in the fine print.
“I received a handful of questions from people in this room as well as other constituents,” said Oliver. “I couldn’t answer the questions that I was receiving.”
Acknowledging that several council members were clearly opposed to sending the ordinance back to ZAP, Oliver chose to charter the first item.
“If we don’t want to send it back to committee, there’s only one other thing I can do here,” said Oliver. “I’ll charter the item, and I’ll get the questions answered myself.”
Feeling as though the two separate ordinance options should be discussed together, Albright then chartered the second item, which simply held amendments for state compliance.
The two items will be up for discussion at the next city council meeting, April 22.
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