CPC November 21 BYC Meeting – Notes
The Comprehensive Planning Committee met on November 21 to continue the discussion of allowing Backyard Cottages (BYCs) in Raleigh. You can watch the meeting on the City of Raleigh’s streaming site for RTN11 (Raleigh Television Network). Follow these steps:
- Click: http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/portal/cor/ext/RTNVideos
- On the site, click “Other Government Meetings”
- Find the link for the video for the “Comprehensive Planning Committee Meeting” on Nov 21, 2012.
Staff began the discussion reviewing the topics covered or recommended for further research at the last meeting (November 14), including occupancy standards, parking requirements, size/setback regulations, design standards, overlay district regulations, and peer city research. Staff proposed these suggested modifications as topics for discussion:
- Increase rear yard setback to 20 feet
- Decrease building separation to 10 feet
- Cap the number of unrelated people on the property at 4
- Require paved parking spaces
- Require similar building materials and roof forms of BYC to main house
- Regulate primary entrance location – not to be at rear property
- Use a Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCOD) to regulate BYCs by neighborhood
Download the complete staff report to read further.
One area of focus was whether an “opt-in” situation would be a fair compromise. This would mean that BYCs would not be allowed city-wide, and a neighborhood could opt-in to allow BYCs with their specific regulations. People in support said this would protect all neighborhoods, and allow for BYCs to be allowed in only the neighborhoods that want them. People in opposition said that this would be the equivalent of keeping BYCs illegal, as it would be near impossible to gain the support of an entire neighborhood when only one citizen might be interested in building a BYC.
Another talking point was whether slumlords would exploit BYCs. Some worry that investors will purchase houses with the intent of building a BYC and maximizing on the rental potential of the property. They are also concerned that slumlords will build a BYC on an existing rental property to gain more income. These concerns are based in the idea that these properties will have low building standards, increase the number of undesired renters, and degrade the quality of existing neighborhoods.
Others believe that this is an issue that doesn’t revolve around BYCs, and that slumlords would not be interested in building BYCs. Currently, slumlords can build an attached accessory dwelling and exploit it in the same way that people are concerned BYCs will be exploited. These slumlords would rather build an attached unit taking advantage of existing infrastructure, rather than investing in the extra expense of constructing a new BYC with the additional costs of new plumbing and electric lines, and extra construction costs of foundation and grading.
This issue has yet to be resolved. The Committee recommended staff to research the idea of opting-in or opting-out of allowing BYCs, or potentially creating a new BYC Overlay District. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for December 5th.
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If I am understanding this right, an accessory dwelling can only be 700sf. So how in the world are 4 people going to live in 700sf? Why are they even considering that as a cap? Seems that 2 would make the most sense. Or 2 adults, to be more specific. Surely a family could live in 700sf, and that could deter the student factor which scares off so many from this idea.
Hi Hillary, thanks for asking. I’ll clarify this.
So a backyard cottage can be from 450 – 800 sqft depending on the property size. In the existing single family house, there can be up to 4 unrelated people. In a backyard cottage there can be up to 2 unrelated people. Therefore, there could be up to 6 on the property. At the last meeting they recommended keeping the cap for the property (primary house and backyard cottage) at 4 unrelated people total.