My April, 2007 Letter To The Traverse City Commission In Support of Accessory Dwelling Units

[though I would not write exactly the same letter today, I still hope for legal ADU's. Here is the previously unpublished e-mail in support of allowing ADU's I sent to the City Commissioners who had e-mail access in 2007. ]

I support allowing people to do with their property what they see fit as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. Therefore I support allowing Accessory Dwelling Units in Traverse City.
It seems opposition to ADU's falls into a few different camps: privacy, parking, people, and protectionism. I'd like to address these concerns.

Privacy:
many opponents of ADU's worry that a two-story garage in their neighbor's backyard will result in gawkers looking directly into their backyard. This is a legitimate concern. Although houses in Traverse City neighborhoods are very close together and I can easily see into all of my neighbors windows. I had no expectation of privacy when I moved into town. But many people consider their backyard as an oasis and a retreat therefore when building ADU's design considerations must be made to limit how windows face backyards. This is a matter for the language in the ADU code.

Parking:
Adding more people to the city may increase the need for vehicle parking. But on the flip side more people living in town will reduce traffic congestion because people will be able to walk and bike to their downtown location rather than driving into town from an outlying suburb. The parking issue is a matter for the language in the code. Keep the ban on overnight on-street parking and require anyone with an ADU to provide a parking spot for each bedroom rented.

People:
Although no one comes out and says it city residents don't like renters. Especially college age renters. And with good reason. Renters can be unruly, rude, offensive, and annoying - especially at 2 AM and they are playing Johnny Cash's 'Ring Of Fire' at 11 on their home stereo. From my experience of living in town it is the houses used as rentals that are the biggest headache. But I've also lived next to rentals where the house owner lived on one floor and rented the other. Without exception, instances where the owner has been on-site have been problem free whereas houses used as a rental have their share of problems. This is a matter for the language in the code by requiring anyone with an ADU to live on-site.

Plus, by having ADU's with only one or two renters it keeps young people from living together in a big house which is what seems to be so problematic.

Protectionism:
I've read in the Record-Eagle comments from an apartment owner who is against allowing ADU's because of the extra competition they would give the apartment. I was not aware that the role of government was to protect someone's business plan. Should TC prevent new B&B's until all the hotel rooms are occupied? Prevent new restaurants from opening until all the other eateries have their tables filled? Or is the right to private property more important? But just as hotels pay a tax I wouldn't mind adding a service fee or tax to ADU's when they are rented.

The argument regarding enforcement is a red herring. Who enforces current laws regarding in-home businesses such as childcare, or trash burning, etc. It is easy - if something happens at an ADU and law enforcement arrives and the investigation shows the owner does not live on site then there will be a fine.

The Good of ADU:

I want a town where young families walk their children to child to Central Grade School. I want a town where I may have a neighbor letting a player from the Beach Bums living above their garage. Or an owner of a local business who hires an intern who can live in town too because they found someone to rent them an ADU at an affordable price. ADU's and local schools go together.

Everyone knows living in town is expensive. If I or my wife lost our job we would have to move out of town. Taking a potential Central Grade School student with us. However, if we could have an ADU then because of that extra income it becomes a possibility that we can get by as a one-earner family.

The Bigger Issue

Ever since English Common Law it has been understood the people can decide what to do with their property. Although you may not like it that includes renting all or a portion of their property to others.
'Privacy' is not in the U.S. Constitution, but property is protected by four amendments (Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth). This is because it was well understood in the 18th Century that the right to property gives birth to a right to privacy. Those who would dictate to others what they can do with their own private property stand on a slippery slope of erosion of their own 'right to privacy'.

Affordable Housing

Back in 2007 when the Traverse City Commission voted against the unanimous recommendation of the planning commission for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) they did so at the bidding of a few sour curmudgeons.

At the time a big part of the discussion was affordable housing.

Based on this topic showing up in a couple of recent articles in the Record-Eagle and an email from a business owner to school parents asking if anyone knew of an apartment or efficiency for rent downtown, it seems the issue of affordable housing is being discussed again in Traverse City:

County looks at housing trust: Funds could be used to build affordable housing in GT

A 2009 housing needs assessment from the Northwest Michigan Council of governments predicts Grand Traverse County will need up to 575 affordable rental units...

The Land Bank Authority often pulls one or two buildable lots close to Traverse City from foreclosure sales for use as Habitat for Humanity affordable home projects.

Those close-to-town lots are "truly a blessing," said Nancy Kiogima, family services manager for Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse Region.

'Depot property' eyed for affordable housing

"We've been trying to do something with that property for a while, it would be nice to get it on the tax rolls,"

My reading of these indicate there is a shortage of housing options in downtown and the city is looking to get more tax revenue from new properties.

Had the City Commissioners allowed ADU's in 2007 they would now have:
- a diverse array of downtown rental options at various price points (and without the city having to develop, lease, or sell anything)
- increased tax revenues for the city via higher property values and ADU related fees that the City could have imposed
- fewer homes in foreclosure and for sale due to the owners having the option of additional income streams
- less traffic into and out of town

And all of the other reasons you'll find under the ADU tag.

This actually reminds me the chicken issue. The Record-Eagle originally editorialized in a belittling manner the idea, then it was found that the City had to allow them in order to comply with state law, and this month the first Coop Loop was an incredibly popular success with over 200 people on the tour.

I believe the ADU issue will evolve in the same way - sometime people will see the value they can add to this city.

In Vancouver They Are Called Laneway Houses

Seattle calls them 'backyard cottages'.

And as I mentioned in that post, in Traverse City we refer to them as ADU's.

Vancouver now allows 'laneway houses' and they look amazing.


See the Globe and Mail: Living small in Vancouver

The city’s first laneway house to be installed on a permanent site attracted a crowd of more than 1,000 to a two-day open house over the weekend.

If it’s an indication of demand for the 500- to 750-square-foot homes, then business may soon be booming for developers in the business of building these prefab constructions.

Via TH: Vancouver's EcoDensity Program Produces an Explosion of Small Green Modern Design

When I saw these designs I immediately thought of the business opportunity this could be for Traverse City's own Cottage In A Day to provide a local pre-fab solution if this type of design were ever permitted.

It has to be simply a matter of time until a critical mass of homeowners in Traverse City realize that allowing detached dwellings makes a lot of sense in many ways.

Seattle Is Allowing Backyard Cottages In Order To Preserve The Rural Countryside

Via SCC: Using backyard cottages to absorb density while maintaining neighborhood character

...architect John Stoeck, who is building a backyard cottage, told Keen, "I want to preserve rural areas around Seattle, and I don't want the suburbs continuing to march on without any limits. One way to do that is to add more density to these inner-city neighborhoods."

Via USAToday: Seattle's backyard cottages make a dent in housing need

Seattle tried a pilot program first and in the post-survery discovered most homeowners had no idea their neighbors had added a backyard cottage. Seattle is allowing these stand-alone ADU's because they:

• provide additional housing options to renters
• give families the option to be close to an elderly parent or adult child
• reduce traffic congestion
• reduce pollution
• provide additional income for struggling home owners
• increase urban density rather than suburban sprawl

NYT has a profile of one example: Converting a Garage Outside Seattle Into a Tiny Home

Perhaps Traverse City's "articulate young people" should change their language and ask for backyard cottages rather than accessory dwelling units.

It is disappointing that The Grand Vision makes no mention of accessory dwelling units as one tool to fight sprawl.

Why Traverse City Needs Infill Development

(including ADU's)

Because getting people to live close together is a much easier than "draining the Bay" to increase wages.

See the NYT Economix Blog: Why Humanity Loves, and Needs, Cities

...wages and productivity rise with density...

How ADU's Can Help In Difficult Economic Times

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) can serve as an economic refuge in that it gives families a low-rent way to consolidate living space; and for those people who have an ADU, it represents another income stream when all others dry up.

TheAtlantic: Young Adults Moving In With Parents, Roommates

USNews: Baby Boomers Moving In With Adult Children

If Traverse City Is To Be An Economic Innovator It Needs More Population Density

Keep the wilderness wild and build up the cities.

Humans have evolved to be innovative. And we are innovative when surrounded by a lot of other people. You can't argue against human nature...

See PhysOrg: High population density triggers cultural explosions

Increasing population density, rather than boosts in human brain power, appears to have catalysed the emergence of modern human behaviour, according to a new study by UCL (University College London) scientists published in the journal Science. High population density leads to greater exchange of ideas and skills and prevents the loss of new innovations. It is this skill maintenance, combined with a greater probability of useful innovations, that led to modern human behaviour appearing at different times in different parts of the world.

Revisiting ADU's

The White House is being used an ADU now. See USAToday: Obama mother-in-law to move into White House

By all accounts, Obama has a good relationship with his mother-in-law. She had put off retirement for years, but finally retired last summer to take care of the granddaughters while their parents campaigned.

"She didn't want anyone else taking care of the kids but her," McCormick Lelyveld said. "She wanted to be the one there."

Barack Obama has called her one of the unsung heroes of his campaign, and spoke of holding her hand on election night.

But when asked by "60 Minutes" if Robinson would move in, he quipped: "Well, I don't tell my mother-in-law what to do. But I'm not stupid. That's why I got elected president, man."

If the White House can be used as a granny-flat then why not my house in Traverse City? The ADU opponents need to admit that their real problem is with renters. Traverse City is not alone in this struggle of locals vs. renters. See Smartmoney: New Battle Affects Home Values: No-Rental Rules. But it is time to revisit this issue as an ADU gives economic flexibility to the homeowner which is needed in these difficult economic times.

How To Get More Out Of Alleys

Traverse City's core neighborhoods all have alleys with houses near the sidewalks and garages in the back lane. This rear space could be used for much more. If not an ADU then how about an office.Something like this at TH: Back Lane Intensification by Pyatt Studio

Granny Flats In Traverse City Are Inevitable

In the first half of the 20th Century boarding houses were common in the United States as many people struggled economically. Today recent college graduates move back in with their parents, and parents move in with adult children. So to the Traverse City Commission I ask; why should it be illegal to rent an ADU to your parents or kids?

See: USNews: Baby Boomers Moving In With Adult Children

Flagstaff Is A Bigger Version Of Traverse City's Problem

*Disclosure* the reporter for these NPR stories is an old college friend of mine

'Amenity Migrants' Alter Life In Resort Towns

Newcomers like Stone have been flocking to Flagstaff and other picturesque resort and college towns since the 1970s. But in the past decade, their numbers have exploded.

Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute, has a name for people like the Stones: "amenity migrants."

"Like many of us, they would say, 'Boy, when I can, I would really like to live in one of these beautiful, scenic areas,'" Johnson said. "And as they get close to retirement, they can fulfill those wishes" — either in full retirement or by working a more flexible schedule...

While other small towns are struggling, these communities are booming. They're growing two to three times faster than other rural areas, even faster than many metro areas. And as the baby boomers retire, Johnson says, the migration will accelerate.

Around Resorts, Boomlet Towns Thrive, Too

Around the country, more Americans are living where they want to, not where they have to. They're making new lives for themselves by the beach, in the mountains, in college towns.

Inevitably, these new residents are changing their new hometowns, making them more expensive places to live. And it can be hard for the original residents to keep up...

"Flagstaff's beautiful," Thomas said. "It's where I wanted to raise my children, it's safe — and ever since I've been back home, it's been very difficult to find a place to live."

That's partly because Flagstaff has been discovered by wealthy second homeowners. And partly because so many of the area's jobs are in tourism and retail, which don't pay very well.

Home prices have more than doubled this decade. Now only about one out of every five families can afford the median price for a house: $350,000.

So Ruth Thomas has done something three of her four siblings did: She and her children moved back in with her parents...

All over the country, newcomers are moving to scenic communities like Flagstaff, helping to drive up housing costs. Many of the towns are trying desperately to create more affordable housing. For instance, Aspen, Colo., now requires developers to make 60 percent of new homes affordable to lower-income buyers.

But these efforts simply can't keep up with the demand. And it's not just day care workers, teachers and firefighters who are squeezed out of the housing market in Flagstaff — medical professionals and college professors can't afford it, either.

Direct link to the Carsey Institute report: Demographic Trends in National Forest Counties (PDF)

Thanks Traverse City Commissioners

Thanks to you I do not have to worry about the possibility of taking in boarders in my ADU. See:More U.S. homeowners consider taking in boarders

Those No Good Articulate Young People

For some reason the Traverse City Record-Eagle decided to print two anti-ADU letters in last Sunday's paper. Neither one is very convincing but this letter is priceless - No single-family ADUs by Adrienne Rossi

Advocating for citywide change are... a cadre of articulate young people interested in more rental choices or in adding a rental unit to their own property.

Yep, the last thing any city in Michigan needs is a cadre of articulate young people. Why don't they move to Chicago?

Sigh... what Adrienne fails to mention is that she has a garage with a granny flat but now is trying to prevent others from making the same choice. This is why opponents of ADUs are being called "selfish and guilty of NIMBYism."