By Ruby Gregg
City Council Member Nicholas Betts wants Lexington to allow homeowners to rent out attached and detached spaces on their property, but he and the rest of council disagree on how many people should live in the units.
Betts wants the city to allow up to four people to occupy the rental spaces to account for the average family size today. But the Planning Commission and the five other council members want to cap it at two people.
“When you limit it two people, you’re essentially leaving out a lot of households,” Betts said in an interview.
During council’s Feb. 1 meeting, Betts said he wants to increase the available rentals for families who can’t afford to buy homes in Lexington.
“These are going to be smaller square footage housing options that most likely, on average, will be more affordable,” Betts told other council members. “It would be unfair to exclude families from the same economic opportunities as single individuals or couples.”
Heidi Schweizer, an architect who designs homes and apartments, said she supports the proposed ordinance, with either cap.
“Housing stock is very expensive,” she said, especially for baristas, bartenders, waitresses and cooks. “For them to find housing in town is very challenging.”
Feb. 8 city council meeting
At the city council meeting on Feb. 8, Arne Glaeser, director of planning and development, gave council an update on the Planning Commission’s ongoing deliberation about accessory dwelling units. Glaeser said the commission spent a lot of time debating an occupancy limit of either two or three.
“What would it look like if two individuals were to happen to have a child?” Council Member David Sigler asked during the meeting. “What would you have to do? Evict them?”
Mayor Frank Friedman said the two-person limit might avoid other potential problems.
“Mr. Betts said, ‘I can’t support it, it doesn’t address or allow for families,’” Friedman said. “Well, then you get into a discussion of how do you define a family? How many is in a family?”
Betts said he promised during his campaign for council that he would work for more affordable housing in the community. The accessory dwelling units would provide more low-income housing for Lexington families, he said.
But Betts said he is not using the word family as part of the definition of occupancy limits.
“You get into a discussion of how do you define a family? How many is in a family?” Frank Friedman said.
“I wrote it in a way to be inclusionary, not have any definition of family, and try to make sure that there was some flexibility for different households to potentially live there,” he said.
Friedman said council wants to resolve the issue, and Betts is holding up the process of approval.
“We’re not playing chess: Ruby gets to live here. John and Julie and their three children have to live here. That’s not a reality. We’re getting a little too much in the weeds,” the mayor said.
Looking ahead
Friedman said the Planning Commission’s ordinance for two-person occupancy rather than four makes a lot of sense. He said the proposed ordinance is a good starting place, and it can be modified in the future if needed.
As of now, the city doesn’t have an ordinance that addresses homeowners’ use of detached or attached accessory dwelling units.
City council is scheduled to resume discussion of the proposed ordinance at tonight’s meeting. Four of the five other council members would need to vote in favor before it passes.
“It’s important, both on a fairness basis as well as on an economic basis, that we consider allowing families to be able to find a place to live in Lexington,” Betts said.