Ordinance on ADUs postponed once again

The Sumner City Council will continue to discuss details on accessory dwelling units at an upcoming study session

Roxanne Cooke

The Sumner City Council again postponed the passage of an ordinance that would set more specific guidelines for “mother-in-law apartments” and allow for subdivision of those units.

The ongoing issue of the “apartments,” also called accessory dwelling units, resurfaced in January after it was set aside in August. Council members have proceeded carefully, scrutinizing details of the document to prevent it from promoting high density in residential areas, something they have said doesn’t fit with the character of Sumner.

Council voted unanimously to postpone the ordinance after Senior Planner Ryan Windish suggested that they have the Sumner Design Commission review accessory dwelling units. He also recommended including the new guidelines created in the ordinance in the updated version of the Design and Development Guidelines.

As for subdivision of the units, Windish recommended that because it’s separate from design standards, the council should address that issue sooner rather than later.

No residents spoke during the public hearing, which took place before council voted on the postponement of the ordinance.

During discussion, Councilman Matt Richardson encouraged council pass the ordinance and amend it later because it’s been on the agenda for months.

“We’ve been stringing this on for quite a bit of time,” he said. “We’ve been chewing on this for a while.”

Councilmember Randy Hynek disagreed, saying that it’s better to postpone it than “to do it wrong” by passing an ordinance that council isn’t completely sure about.

It would be best to postpone and discuss it further at another study session, suggested Councilman Leroy Goff.

“I realize this has taken considerable time and effort,” Goff said. “But sometimes things are slow in city government.”

The ordinance will be further discussed at an upcoming study session.

The council previously postponed the ordinance at its last regular meeting in January, then discussed amendments to the document at last week’s study session.

As it stands, the proposed ordinance would provide more detailed guidelines for height, setback and window placements of accessory dwelling units; allow for a basement; allow for subdivision; limit the units to single-story and allow for a reduction in setbacks in certain residential zones.

Council members suggested making amendments to the document, such as increasing the number of required parking spaces, increasing the required minimum size for subdividing units and changing the dimensions of setbacks based on the type of accessory dwelling unit.

The units can still be built without the ordinance, but the document will provide more specifics.