City to Discuss Accessory Dwellings in Public Hearing

The City currently does not allow residents to rent out parts of their homes - but that ordinance is going to be discussed soon.

By Ben Morris on Tuesday, November 10, 2009

PROVIDENCE - A Providence resident appeared before the City Council to request an exception to the City ordinance about accessory dwellings, which does not allow residents to rent out parts of their home. Due to recent economic hardships, she and her husband had decided to come to the City Council to request that they be allowed to rent their basement, which they describe as a self-contained unit.

The City originally passed the ordinance to prevent a common occurrence at the time. Contractors building new homes were encouraging the buyer to add additional units for the purpose of renting them out - that way, they could afford a bigger house. However, young people began to get into trouble when they lost their renters and were stuck with a large mortgage payment. "It keeps every house from turning into a duplex," says Council Member Dale Astle. "I think there's a need for accessory dwellings in every community, but it's a limited one."

Under the ordinance as it is now, accessory dwellings that had been rented out previous to the passing of the ordinance would be "grandfathered in" and would be allowed to continue to be rented. The resident said that the person who owned her house before she bought it had rented a portion of it, but had not done so legally, failing to acquire the necessary permit, and so she is not allowed to now.

The City agrees that the ordinance is good but perhaps too restrictive, and is sending it to be revisited by the Planning Commission. Their meeting will be open to the public, and will be held November 18th at 6:00 PM at the City office.