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Lexington Planners Set Hearing For Feb. 13
After discussions over several meetings and a final review of the proposed language, the Lexington Planning Commission has completed a final draft of an ordinance for cottage housing developments within the city, which will soon be posted for public review ahead of a public hearing in February.
Cottage housing developments are a group of small, single-family dwellings that center around a common area. They are similar to condominium projects, in that the units are typically sold individually, along with the land underneath them, and the owners pay a fee for use of the common areas, which are maintained by a homeowner’s association. These kinds of developments, a relatively new trend in housing, are primarily located in Washington state, in communities around Seattle, but have begun spreading to other states as well.
The Planning Commission began discussing cottage housing last April, with several meetings devoted to overview of the concept and of existing developments and ordinances, including one from Winchester and one from Falls Church. The members began drafting the language for the ordinance in July and, after a final review of the ordinance and some final changes to the language at the commissions meetings on Dec. 12 and Jan. 9, completed a final draft of the ordinance.
The proposed ordinance would allow such developments in all four of the city’s residential zoning districts as a conditional use, meaning a developer who wished to build a cottage community would need to apply for a conditional use permit, which would be reviewed by both the Planning Commission and City Council for approval.
In the R-1 (general residential) zoning district, the maximum density allowed is one cottage per 4,000 square feet, and a required minimum lot size of 16,000 square feet. The same minimum lot size is required for the R-LC (residential-light commercial) and R-M (residential-multifamily) zoning districts, with respective maximum densities of one cottage per 2,500 square feet and one cottage per 2,000 square feet. In the R-2 (suburban residential) zoning district, a minimum lot size of 30,000 square feet is required and the maximum density is one cottage per 7,500 square feet.
Any development in any of the zoning districts must have a minimum of four cottages, and cannot exceed 12 cottages in the R-1, R-2 and R-LC districts. Developments in the R-M zoning districts may have up to 18 cottages.
To prevent a uniform look within the development, adjacent cottages must vary from each other in some respect, either in design, material, color or orientation. The proposed setbacks for the dwelling units and any community buildings is 20 feet from the right-of-way, 10 feet from the side and 20 feet in the rear. If any building borders another residentialzoned property on the side, the setback is increased to 15 feet.
Proposed developments are encouraged to “incorporate existing trees to the extent possible with an emphasis on native species.” Native species are also recommended for any new trees and vegetation that will be planted for the development. Any structures already existing on the property, if utilized, will count toward the total number of cottages.
One of the discussions held at both meetings centered on language in the ordinance’s purpose statement which addressed the occupancy limits of the cottages.
The Winchester ordinance included a statement that such housing devel- opments would be for “households typically of one or two individuals,” while Lexington’s planners leaned more toward setting a cap on the number of bedrooms allowed per unit. Some discussion at the Jan. 9 meeting included potentially having both in the purpose statement, but Commissioner Krista Anderson objected. She cited her own experience raising two children in a 900-square foot, two-bedroom condo as evidence that more than two people could fit into a space of the proposed size.
Cottages
“I think to put it out to say one or two individuals is us saying ‘this is what we foresee it as being,’ which is us putting a judgment on what a smaller house looks like, and, having raised kids in a smaller place, there’s already all kinds of judgment on that and it’s really stressful being in a small space anyways,” she said. “I don’t think there needs to be any judgment of people. It feels very ‘this is what we assume this type of house needs to be’ when houses look different everywhere, across the world and generationally. It feels like a judgment to me, personally.”
Commissioner Jon Eastwood offered a compromise of saying that the goal was for “smaller households” and also setting a limit of three bedrooms, which Anderson and the rest of the Commission agreed to.
“What’s nice about that is that it still articulates the aspiration and the purpose, but it doesn’t sound as prescriptive or as judgey,” he said.
A copy of the draft ordinance with the final edits will be posted to the city’s planning department website later this week for review and comments from the public.
A public hearing on the ordinance will be held at the Planning Commission’s regular business meeting on Feb. 13.
