OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – They were once known as “mother-in-law houses” — small homes behind the primary home on a lot. A legislative committee is discussing LB1166, a bill that would require towns and cities in Nebraska to allow at least one ADU on any single-family lot.
About two years ago, Nele Sudar told us he thought about building a cottage home in his backyard to move his parents closer.
But he said Omaha’s ordinance was covered in red tape and he called the whole thing off.
“Too many requirements that won’t allow to build anything,” he said. “There’s too many small things that when it comes to zoning laws, and some of them should be loosened and not be as strict.”
“The way the code was written a number of decades ago, it was kind of clumsy,” said Omaha City Planning Director David Fanslau. “Just took a lot of work, individual property owners, almost ten to do it on their own.”
Fanslau and other city officials understand those concerns, especially in areas where ADUs in older neighborhoods are grandfathered in — so officials updated the ordinance that made it hard to build an ADU.
“It required a certain amount of neighbors on any residential block to approve it and go through,” Fanslau said. “This ordinance process, we made it more simple. We think the availability of affordable housing with those ADUs will be easier now. In some zoning districts it will be allowed by right. In some zoning districts it will require planning board approval.”
Fanslau said Omaha is working to make building ADUs easier. He tells us it could help with the shortage of affordable housing in our area — but, he says, Omaha doesn’t plan to let homeowners build them in some parts of the city without talking to neighbors and city officials first.
“We’re sensitive to that which is why some of the zoning districts (will) still require a public hearing in front of the planning board. It’s part of the Affordability Action Plan passed by the council last year. The Planning Department feels this is part of the low-hanging fruit we could accomplish in a short amount of time, and we have.”
Omaha’s ADU ordinance change went to the Planning Board in December. Fanslau says he believes the new ordinance should be in front of the City Council for approval by February’s end.
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