By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — If you have a family member who wants to live next to you in Dunn County, your only choice now is to have a residential parcel large enough that it can be subdivided.
Adding a provision to Dunn County’s zoning ordinance to allow an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) — also known as a mother-in-law flat — would be one way to address the housing shortage, said Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee, at the May 11 meeting.
Dunn County’s existing zoning ordinance allows only one residence per parcel — or as it is stated in the ordinance, “not more than one principal building or use and its accessory buildings or uses may be located on a lot or parcel of land.”
The county’s zoning code has included a provision of only one residence per lot for at least the last 20 years, and when people have wanted an ADU, the county’s policy has been that the landowner either subdivide the land and build on the new parcel or consider adding more living space to the existing house, said Bob Colson, Dunn County zoning administrator.
The zoning office receives about seven requests per year for an ADU and has had 38 requests over the past five years, he said.
In 98 percent of the cases, the county’s policy has resolved the issue, and the parcel has been subdivided or additional living space was built onto the house, Colson said.
Options
There are other options to create more ways for family members to be able to live next to their family, Colson said.
One way would be to add another variance to the zoning ordinance so that in general agriculture where there is less than eight acres to subdivide but there is still enough land for a one-acre minimum, the second lot could could be used for the ADU, he said.
A variance also could be added to the zoning code for a residential lot that is less than two acres but there is still enough room to create another lot that is close to a minimum one acre lot size. And a variance could be used as well in either GA or residential if there is not enough room for the required setback for the ADU, Colson said.
Another option would be to allow ADUs as a special exception and restricting the use of the ADU to only family members and/or to restrict the size of the ADU by square feet and number of bedrooms, he said.
If the ADU is allowed as a variance or if an ADU is allowed as a special exception, in either case, the application would have to come before the Dunn County Zoning Board of Appeals, and the BOA could place conditions on the special exception, he said.
The last option would be to add ADUs to the zoning ordinance, Colson said.
What’s next?
Quinn said he felt frustrated by the options for a variance or a special exception because both options are only creating additional ways to subdivide parcels and are not actually addressing ADUs.
The options are merely creating a special process for a new parcel, he said.
PR&D committee members have not talked about “what we want to create” and also have not talked about what works or does not work in municipalities where ADUs are allowed, Quinn said.
The two options are to allow ADUs or to work with landowners on creating a separate parcel, Colson said.
If the residential unit is on a separate parcel, then it is not an ADU. A separate parcel defeats the purpose of an ADU, Quinn said.
Some of the advantages of an ADU is there are cost savings from shared utilities, he said.
Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee, said she had received some model ordinances for ADUs and would like to find out how other municipalities have encouraged responsible ADU development.
The issue of ADUs in Dunn County will be on the PR&D agenda next month with the goal of moving the discussion forward, Quinn said.
One concern about ADUs expressed at a prior PR&D meeting is what happens to the extra dwelling unit when the person occupying it passes away or moves somewhere else?
