(April 14, 2016) After running through a brief and relatively drama-free agenda last Wednesday, the Berlin Board of Appeals fielded a question from Councilmember Lisa Hall that sparked more than 15 minutes worth of additional discussion.
Hall said she had noticed a number of housing violations in the area, and asked if the appeals board could intervene.
“As a councilmember and also as a resident of the town … I’m seeing a lot of things going on [and] I know of quite a few places in town that have built an apartment, they’re renting the unit, nobody knows about it, nobody pays any attention,” she said. “It’s really not legal, but it’s happening.”
She said the house next door to her own home has become “a duplex [in] an R-1 neighborhood,” a trend that is on the rise.
“You’ve got a lot of parents now, coming back, living with their children. They don’t want to live in the house. They say, ‘let’s turn the garage into a mother-in-law apartment.’ Before you know it, it’s a full-blown apartment with a kitchen, granite counters, etc.,” she said. “I ride around, I see these apartments attached to houses. I see these apartments on top of garages. According to everybody, they’re not legal, but it’s happening. What can we do to maybe look at the code again [and] make some concessions for these?”
Chairman Joe Moore said those kinds of decisions do not fall onto the board of appeals. That body, he says, simply makes determinations based on current town code.
“If the code needs to be changed, that’s your job – not our job,” he said. “It would be a determination made by the mayor and council – not this board.
“Respectfully … you’re in the wrong forum, and you are a councilperson, so you’re the very person who can resolve those kinds of issues,” Moore added. “And, respectfully, again, if you know of violations, then [Planning Director] David [Engelhart] needs to know about them, because they can be resolved.”
In Berlin, Moore said the R-1 district allows for a single-family unit, which is defined as a family related by blood or marriage, or “a group of persons living as a single household.” He said he believed garages with mother-in-law apartments were permitted under town code.
Engelhart clarified that attached garages are allowed to have such structures, but that detached garages are not. In the specific instance Hall referred to, a living space was built over an attached garage for “elderly parents who were not in the best health.”
The problem, Engelhart said, was that during permitting, the homeowner was instructed not to build a kitchen into the new living space.
“This is a sticky situation,” he said. “It’s got a stove, it’s got a hood. I was there today on the final inspection. My feeling is they need to come back, to make it legal, to the board or zoning appeals, to get permission for that accessory dwelling unit. That section’s in there to exactly handle this [situation].
“It’s done, so now I can either have them rip it all out, or I can use a little common sense and let the residents enjoy it for what they built it for,” Engelhart continued.
Moore said that was a specific instance, and if brought before the appeals board, would be considered based only on the evidence presented during that hearing.
“If it’s a nonspecific problem … that is your unique ability to change, as a council person, by changing the code,” he said. “The only thing we can do is under the code.”
“I really think that we need to look at some of these things and bring them up into the 21st century,” Hall said.
“And I agree, when you said ‘we,’ [that] means you,” Moore said. “It’s your authority.”
Hall said she had noticed a number of housing violations in the area, and asked if the appeals board could intervene.
“As a councilmember and also as a resident of the town … I’m seeing a lot of things going on [and] I know of quite a few places in town that have built an apartment, they’re renting the unit, nobody knows about it, nobody pays any attention,” she said. “It’s really not legal, but it’s happening.”
She said the house next door to her own home has become “a duplex [in] an R-1 neighborhood,” a trend that is on the rise.
“You’ve got a lot of parents now, coming back, living with their children. They don’t want to live in the house. They say, ‘let’s turn the garage into a mother-in-law apartment.’ Before you know it, it’s a full-blown apartment with a kitchen, granite counters, etc.,” she said. “I ride around, I see these apartments attached to houses. I see these apartments on top of garages. According to everybody, they’re not legal, but it’s happening. What can we do to maybe look at the code again [and] make some concessions for these?”
Chairman Joe Moore said those kinds of decisions do not fall onto the board of appeals. That body, he says, simply makes determinations based on current town code.
“If the code needs to be changed, that’s your job – not our job,” he said. “It would be a determination made by the mayor and council – not this board.
“Respectfully … you’re in the wrong forum, and you are a councilperson, so you’re the very person who can resolve those kinds of issues,” Moore added. “And, respectfully, again, if you know of violations, then [Planning Director] David [Engelhart] needs to know about them, because they can be resolved.”
In Berlin, Moore said the R-1 district allows for a single-family unit, which is defined as a family related by blood or marriage, or “a group of persons living as a single household.” He said he believed garages with mother-in-law apartments were permitted under town code.
Engelhart clarified that attached garages are allowed to have such structures, but that detached garages are not. In the specific instance Hall referred to, a living space was built over an attached garage for “elderly parents who were not in the best health.”
The problem, Engelhart said, was that during permitting, the homeowner was instructed not to build a kitchen into the new living space.
“This is a sticky situation,” he said. “It’s got a stove, it’s got a hood. I was there today on the final inspection. My feeling is they need to come back, to make it legal, to the board or zoning appeals, to get permission for that accessory dwelling unit. That section’s in there to exactly handle this [situation].
“It’s done, so now I can either have them rip it all out, or I can use a little common sense and let the residents enjoy it for what they built it for,” Engelhart continued.
Moore said that was a specific instance, and if brought before the appeals board, would be considered based only on the evidence presented during that hearing.
“If it’s a nonspecific problem … that is your unique ability to change, as a council person, by changing the code,” he said. “The only thing we can do is under the code.”
“I really think that we need to look at some of these things and bring them up into the 21st century,” Hall said.
“And I agree, when you said ‘we,’ [that] means you,” Moore said. “It’s your authority.”