Amherst planners table action on accessory dwelling rules – Lynchburg News and Advance

The Amherst County Planning Commission at its February meeting agreed to postpone advertising an ordinance on accessory dwelling units (ADU) to allow more time for review.

The draft ordinance defines ADUs as a smaller secondary independent dwelling unit established in conjunction with and clearly an accessory to a principal single-family detached home, whether part of the same structure or a detached unit on the same lot.

The developer of the Madison Heights Town Center, a large-scale residential and commercial mixed-use project undergoing construction on U.S. 29 Business in Madison Heights, plans for ADU use as part of its master plan, according to county officials.

Department of Community Development staff recommendations include ADUs being a permitted by-right use in the Agricultural Residential (A-1) zoning district and Mixed-Use/Traditional Neighborhood district (MU/TND). The county currently only has one area zoned MU/TND, which is the Madison Heights Town Center development, a mixture of apartments, townhomes and single-family homes and commercial and other uses taking shape.

Tyler Creasy, director of community development, presented a draft ordinance which states any ADU separate from the main structure shall be located to the rear or side of the principal dwelling unit, unless on A-1 lots exceeding five acres. Detached ADUs shall not exceed 40% of the total gross floor area of the main dwelling unit, no ADU shall exceed a maximum of two bedrooms and are proposed to be permitted as short-term rentals, according to the draft regulations.

A habitation requirement proposed is the property owner must live in the ADU or principal dwelling, or if the property owner does not live there only one family can occupy the property — a family is defined as five people, Creasy said.

Creasy said it has been hard to find similar localities like Amherst County that have ADU regulations because typically they are common in cities. He said they are the answer to affordable housing and he expects a state mandate from the legislature in coming years to require them.

“I’m OK with it in the very densely areas,” Commissioner Michael Bryant said.

Legislators in February said they wanted more time to think about a proposal for a statewide rule sharply limiting local governments’ ability to reject ADUs, or so-called mother-in-law suites. A House committee voted last month to continue Senate Bill 304 to 2025 to allow time for a review from the Virginia Housing Commission.

The state measure by state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, D-Fairfax, would say ADUs must be allowed in an area that a local government has zoned for single-family homes. It sparked strong opposition from local governments, arguing that they need the power to make sure development of new housing does not overwhelm schools, streets and sewer and water systems.

Creasy said a lot of older residents are moving in with their families, a contributing factor for ADUs.

“Nursing homes are going out of style,” Creasy said.

He said other reasons are more people are seeking supplemental income following the pandemic and many people working from home and children are living longer than expected at their parents’ homes after becoming adults.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls about adding a second dwelling for kids or family coming to stay,” Creasy said.