If Oklahoma City opens the door to so-called granny flats — accessory dwelling units, as secondary housing on single-family lots — they’ll start where they’re most wanted, and that’s in the urban core of OKC.
ADUs, also called in-law suites, casitas or garden cottages, would be introduced basically from NW 63 to SW 59, between Interstate 35 and I-44.
That’s according to the Oklahoma City Planning Department, which is wrapping up public presentations and listening sessions related to accessory dwellings before taking the proposal to the city’s planning commission and city council in late spring or summer.
Planners have been working for the past few years to rewrite the city’s zoning code using the city’s guiding document, planokc, authorized in 2015. Planners are proposing to first adopt rules to allow for ADUs in the city’s urban core. Lisa Chronister, assistant director of planning, and Marilyn Allen, program planner, recently gave an online update at the request of Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma.
Here is some of what planners have come up with, according to Chronister and Allen.
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What exactly is an ADU, an accessory dwelling unit?
The proposed language to allow ADUs in the city’s existing zoning code would define an ADU as:
- “A dwelling that is accessory to a Principal Dwelling on the same lot. This includes a building or part of a building that provides complete independent living facilities for one (1) or more people, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.”
Now, “one dwelling unit,” according to code is:
- “A freestanding and structurally separated building used exclusively for residential purposes. It is located on a lot or building site that is unoccupied by any other dwelling unit or main building. A typical use is a single detached dwelling.” Separate zoning applies to manufactured and mobile homes.
Benefits of ADUs, accessory dwelling units, according to OKC planners
Proponents of ADUs in OKC say they would:
- Expand housing capacity.
- Create affordable housing in traditional neighborhoods.
- Support home ownership (supplemental income).
- Improve social benefits.
- Provide more housing in walkable areas.
- Accommodate existing nonconforming dwellings.
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How ADUs, accessory dwelling units, fit with existing Oklahoma City planning policies and goals
OKC’s guiding planning document, planokc, calls for:
- Increasing density where appropriate, including reducing cost of city services and infrastructure, and supporting transit, bike lanes, retail stores, schools and parks.
- Improving community health by promoting opportunities for walking instead of driving, decreasing negative health impacts due to respiratory issues and obesity.
- Decreasing the number of abandoned homes.
- Providing housing choices for all stages of life.
Oklahoma City planning guidance policy, planokc, is ADU-friendly
Planokc includes these goals related to accessory dwelling units:
- Policy L-12: “Modify codes and/or regulations to create opportunities for more income diversity and mixed-income neighborhoods by allowing a variety of housing ownership and leasing arrangements, diverse housing sizes and types — including accessory dwelling units, carriage homes, lofts, live-work spaces, cottages, and manufactured/modular housing.”
- Policy SU-9: “Revise subdivision and zoning regulations to allow increased densities as appropriate. For example, density potential could be increased by allowing ‘cottage’ or ‘pocket’ neighborhoods and accessory dwelling units (additional dwelling units allowed on owner-occupied properties) where appropriate.”
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Three residential developments in OKC already allow ADUs
Planned Unit Developments and Simplified Planned Unit Developments are “intended to maximize flexibility and innovation in development” to attain “a desirable mixture of compatible land use patterns” such as efficient pedestrian and vehicle circulation and enhanced neighborhoods, with allowances for usable open space.
PUDs and SPUDS can be ADU-friendly. Oklahoma City has one on the ground and two on the books:
- SPUD-1136 is along Gatewood Avenue south of NW 23, R-4 (multifamily) base zone, 35-foot height limit for all buildings; two parking spaces per dwelling, 60% maximum lot coverage.
- SPUD-1316 (not yet built): NW 30 near N Walker, R-2 base zone (medium-low density)/HL (Historical landmark) overlay; 25-foot height; footprint limited to 780 square feet including garage space, two parking spaces per dwelling, 50% maximum lot coverage.
- SPUD-1478 (not yet built): Along Eubanks Street between N Pennsylvania Avenue and N Youngs Boulevard, R-1 base zone (single-family residential), single story height limit, one parking space for the ADU, 50% maximum lot coverage.
Why OKC planners want to start allowing ADUs first in the urban core
Planners want to start allowing ADUs, with conditions, between Interstate 35 and I-44 because:
- Many neighborhoods in that area already have accessory dwellings, which are not supported by the existing zoning code.
- It would incentivize development in the core to meet planokc (comprehensive plan) adaptokc (sustainability plan), and preserveokc (historic preservation plan) goals of less driving and more walkability.
- Increased infill development is desirable.
- ADUs are already being allowed on a case-by-case basis by the Oklahoma City Planning Commission and Oklahoma City Council.
- Now there is no uniformity or predictability for neighbors or developers.
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Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard’s work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.