Dear Neighbors,

This coming Monday, the City Council will hold its last of three meetings in the month of January. Our meeting will begin at 7pm. We have six items on deliberative agenda:

After a great deal of study and community input, the Council's Ordinance Committee is bringing forward proposed ordinance changes to the Code pertaining to Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are efficiency or 1-bedroom apartments located within or on the same property as a single-family, owner-occupied home. ADUs have been utilized widely in cities across the US, and to some degree here in Burlington, as a tool for older adults to remain in their homes as they age, to create housing for an elder or a dependent, and provide homeowners with a way to offset housing costs.

The main proposed changes include:

• Enabling ADUs as a permitted use for single family homes in all zoning areas of the City.
• Increasing the maximum size for ADU's to accommodate their location on lots with smaller homes, by adding an alternative maximum size.
• Allowing for a portion of the lot coverage associated with a detached ADU to be exempt based on a stormwater impact review provision
• Eliminating the parking requirement associated with an ADU by enabling stacked parking for ADUs

I have heard from a number of residents concerned that the requirement that the property be in part owner occupied will be eliminated. That part of the ordinance has not been changed. It was discussed but the committee that reviewed this ordinance for several months did not support that and I do not believe that is under consideration for the Council in its review. Of course, that could change but I would not support such a change and believe many of my colleagues would support continuing to keep that part of the ordinance in place.

The remaining items on the agenda include:

• We will hold a second public hearing on proposed Charter amendments for the Town Meeting Day ballot in March. The proposed changes are to 1) increase the funding to the Housing Trust Fund, 2) changes to local election dates for when petitions are due, warnings and ballot availability and 3) a charter change to allow resident non-citizens to vote in local elections.

• Following the public hearing, the Council will vote on placing these items on the March ballot.

• We have a resolution on our agenda to determine the need for concise summary of one of the proposed Charter change amendments on the ballot. What this means is that the full language of one of the Charter changes, namely, the changes to when petitions are due as well as the dates for ballot item warnings and the availability of ballots is very long. We must vote on abbreviated language.

You are always welcome to come to a Council meeting and speak on any topic you wish during public forum which begins at 7:30pm. You may access the Council agenda at http://www.boarddocs.com/vt/burlingtonvt/Board.nsf/Public All Council meetings are televised live on BT Channel 317 and can be streamed to your computer or phone via youtube.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please be in touch with your comments, questions and concerns.

My best,
Karen

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