Othello City Council discusses accessory dwelling units

OTHELLO — Accessory Dwelling Units were the primary topic of discussion during an Othello city council meeting on Monday, April 8.

According to proposed city code, “an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a smaller, subordinate, attached or detached dwelling unit. These units are allowed in order to: (a) create affordable housing; (b) provide a range of housing choices; (c) enhance options for families by providing opportunities for older or younger relatives to live in proximity while maintaining a degree of privacy; (d) provide an opportunity for homeowners to gain the extra income necessary to help meet the rising costs of home ownership and (e) maintain the single family appearance of existing neighborhoods.”

Currently, Othello does not have any code enforcement for ADUs. The proposed code is designed to help fill that gap and bring existing ADUs up to code.

A public hearing was held during the meeting in which members of the planning commission, the community and the city council were able to voice their thoughts and concerns on the code. The main concerns that were brought up were water connections, parking both on and off the street, the use of alleyways as streets, sidewalks to the ADU, sewer capacity, the number of people living in the unit, the physical condition of existing ADUs and the upcoming zoning changes that would affect the ADUs. The proposed code has been in process for a few months.

The discussion, which lasted close to an hour, ended with the proposed code being tabled until the next city council meeting Monday, April 22. This will allow the planners to bring additional information before the city council.

In other business, AHBL Inc., a land surveyor from Pasco, was selected to be the city’s on-call surveyor. The previously approved surveyor decided to retire. Surveyors work on a case-by-case job basis.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.