Bath poised to approve extra space for accessory dwelling units
Jessica Hall
The city of Bath, shown here, is expected to approve an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units to ease the housing crunch.
The city of Bath is poised to approve a new ordinance that would allow residents to create an additional housing unit on certain properties, following similar efforts in Maine and nationally to ease the housing crunch.
The measure, which came after studying similar ordinances in other communities such as Portland, South Portland, Brunswick and Kennebunk, will allow some Bath residents with single-family or two-family homes to add an additional dwelling unit on their property.
The city council is set to make a final vote on the issue March 2.
Across Maine, 23 other municipalities have adopted such ordinances, according to GrowSmart Maine.
The city has 2,640 residences that would qualify to add so-called accessory dwelling units under the ordinance, said Bath Housing Director Debora Keller. Even if just 5% of those eligible followed through with building an additional unit, it would add 132 new housing units to Bath, she said.
Bath currently has a “negligible” vacancy rate, Keller said.
“The lack of housing is getting in the way of hiring for many companies,” Keller said.
Under the proposed ordinance, residents can create and rent out a housing unit on their property. It must have its own kitchen, bathroom and living space and no larger than two bedrooms. It must have one parking space and be rented for at least 90 days.
“The intent is to find a way for parcels in Bath to have more density,” said Bath City Planner Ben Averill. “We have a number of large, old homes that are not being utilized efficiently. The hope of this ordinance is to carve out some more space, add more density in some of these big, older homes and more density in the community overall.”
"ADUs aren't new to Maine, but interest is especially high now because they provide a smart growth solution to the lack of housing choices for everyone. Siting of these affordable units within or near a primary residence can improve quality of life and strengthen the local economy while maintaining a sense of community,” said Nancy Smith, executive director of GrowSmart Maine.
ADUs can help older Mainers age in place, near the support of family. Also, ADUs create housing on existing lots, reducing sprawl and utilizing existing municipal infrastructure such as roads, water/sewer, broadband, school buses and emergency services, Smith noted.
How other cities have tackled ADUs
Different cities have had varying degrees of success with their ADU ordinances.
Bangor, for example, passed an ADU measure in 2019, but only four units have been created under that ordinance, said Anne Krieg, planning officer for the city of Bangor.
Bangor has made other moves to ease its housing crunch, such as changing the density requirements for the number of units per lot, reducing parking requirements for apartments and elderly housing projects and it is currently weighing a measure to allow boarding houses in more downtown areas and historic properties, Krieg said.
South Portland has seen more success with its accessory dwelling unit efforts, with about 100 built or approved since the city approved them in 2004, said Milan Nevajda, South Portland's planning director. The ADUs are disproportionately used by family members, extended family or friends, he said.
Despite the relative success in South Portland, the city is weighing ways to make it easier and more appealing to add such units by potentially loosening some restrictions, Nevajda said. The city is exploring detached ADUs that would stand separate from a single-family home, as well as looking at parking and design restrictions.
“While we’re doing well in some ways, the national path on ADUs is much less restrictive. We have room to improve. We’re not feeling like the current ADU rules are where they could be,” Nevajda said.
On the West Coast, cities such as Portland, Ore., Seattle and Los Angeles, have seen surging demand for ADUs. In Portland, Ore., for example, more than 10% of total housing units built in the city were ADUs, according to a 2018 study by the University of California at Berkeley.
“South Portland has an extremely serious housing condition right now. Maine, in general, is underproducing homes. There’s a chronic lack of opportunity for housing,” Nevajda said.
“If tomorrow the lights came on and ADU restrictions were eased, we’d have 10 to 20 applications immediately,” he said.
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