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• “Bloomington couple re-engineer ‘90’s house for multigenerational living”. <br />Star Tribune, May 14, 2016. <br /> <br /> In summary, a couple remodeled their single-family home, including a basement <br />bedroom, kitchen, and laundry room into an “apartment” for the wife’s senior mother. <br />This would be permitted in Mounds View, if the basement were openly accessible by <br />a common stairwell. As such, this would be interpreted as a Single-Family Dwelling <br />(not an apartment). <br /> <br />• “Zoning for Accessory Housing”. Zoning Practice, July 2012. <br /> <br />In summary, the demand for ADU’s is a solution to providing for independent <br />quarters for a caretaker or family member, and to provide for affordable housing. <br />Questions to be considered include; are ADU’s within single-family residential areas <br />acceptable to the neighborhood; should the property owner be required to live in the <br />primary residence or ADU (vs. renting both out); is there adequate parking; and what <br />is the permitting process (permitted use vs. conditional use). <br /> <br />Summary: <br />A Mounds View resident proposed to Staff a home addition, including an attached <br />garage with an apartment above the garage. The apartment would share an exterior <br />entrance (common stairwell). The apartment would include a bedroom, living room and <br />kitchen, and is intended to be rented. It is Staff’s interpretation of the City Code that the <br />apartment would be a Second Dwelling Unit, which is not permitted within the R-1 <br />Single-Family Residential District. <br /> <br />Within the R-1 District, bedrooms may be rented to no more than two boarders, such <br />that the rented units (bedrooms) are not independent Dwelling Units. <br /> <br />Although the proposed home addition would include a common exterior entrance <br />(stairwell), it is Staff’s understanding that the home and apartment would not be freely <br />accessible by each other’s occupants. Thus, the apartment would be a second <br />dwelling, which is not permitted in the R-1 District. If the two were freely accessible (i.e. <br />no locked doors), there would not be a Second Dwelling Unit (similar to the example in <br />the attached Bloomington article). <br /> <br />Recommendation: <br />Staff recommends that ADU’s be discussed as a topic during the Comprehensive Plan <br />update (2016-2018). If the Council would like to expedite this discussion, Staff can <br />prepare a report for the Planning Commission as a discussion item. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br /> <br />________________________