Accessory Dwelling Units

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mattaudio
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Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby mattaudio » January 8th, 2013, 1:44 pm

Legal in the core cities? A good idea?

fehler
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby fehler » January 10th, 2013, 10:45 am

Definition?

mulad
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby mulad » January 10th, 2013, 10:58 am

A small secondary dwelling on the same parcel as a house. This can be a dedicated structure, a converted whole or part of a garage, or possibly part of the main house if it has been subdivided properly with a separate entrance. Typically rented out, though sometimes property owners will move into the ADU and rent out the main house.

Granny flat, guest house, secondary suite, etc.
Last edited by mulad on January 10th, 2013, 11:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

mattaudio
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby mattaudio » January 10th, 2013, 11:16 am

Of particular interest to me are garage rebuilds which would allow for an additional living structure along alleys. Seems like it would really have the potential to transform certain neighborhoods and increase the density without altering the SFH development style too much, especially as demand for car storage decreases.

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Andrew_F
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby Andrew_F » January 10th, 2013, 1:19 pm

I wish they were more common here! Another setup that is pretty cool that you see in Chicago but not up here-- on neighborhood commercial streets, when a small commercial building is on the front of a standard size lot with a house on the back of the lot.

mattaudio
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby mattaudio » January 10th, 2013, 1:25 pm


nordeast homer
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby nordeast homer » January 10th, 2013, 2:34 pm

My neighbor just built, what he defines as, the garage-majal. Very nice, I would move into it! It has a full stairwell and a finished upstairs...took a lot of time for the city to approve it though.
I guess I don't have a problem with accessory dwelling units as long as they are held up to the standards of regular homes. I wonder if it would even make sense to have a limit to the number of people per unit depending on size? I visited a building I thought was a workplace and it had about 4 guys living in basically a one stall garage. Not only was it nasty dirty, but it was truly what I would consider hazardous living conditions. I don't even remember the circumstances of why I went to that place, but I remember feeling like I needed to shower in lysol afterward.

PhilmerPhil
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby PhilmerPhil » January 10th, 2013, 2:45 pm

Not quite what Kazoo referred to, but I find it quirky and wanted to post it.

twincitizen
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby twincitizen » January 10th, 2013, 2:48 pm

Over on Lyndale, both Mortimer's and Bulldog are in buildings like that (converted houses). Unknown if either of them actually have people living in the remaining house portion upstairs.
I bet most people hardly notice it, especially Mortimer's because of the billboards on the roof.

Ok, back to accessory DU's. I thought for sure there was an area of the city where they are allowed/encouraged. Maybe Seward or something over there?

I am almost positive there are converted garages in Whittier, or a garage with a DU on top, adjacent to a duplex/triplex.

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woofner
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby woofner » January 10th, 2013, 3:14 pm

Legal in the core cities?
Yes, they are legal in the Ventura Village neighborhood. I'm not sure how many, if any, have been built there, though. That could be attributable to the (lack of) market in the area for this type of housing, since my understanding is that these usually provide middle-to-upper income housing presumably because of the cost of new build and the builder usually being an individual without the resources to go after grants. But they are also required to have at least one homesteaded unit on the lot, and I'm not sure how many of those are in that area to begin with.

ADUs are not going to change the world, but they are a common sense measure that do some good, and if there hasn't been any sort of problem in Ventura Village I don't see why they shouldn't be expanded citywide.
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Nick
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby Nick » January 10th, 2013, 3:18 pm

I visited a building I thought was a workplace and it had about 4 guys living in basically a one stall garage. Not only was it nasty dirty, but it was truly what I would consider hazardous living conditions. I don't even remember the circumstances of why I went to that place, but I remember feeling like I needed to shower in lysol afterward.
Sidebar: If you ever see stuff like that in Minneapolis, please call 311!
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gobezlij
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby gobezlij » January 10th, 2013, 3:32 pm

Here's one I've always liked: http://goo.gl/maps/ArIkS

nordeast homer
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby nordeast homer » January 10th, 2013, 4:20 pm

Sidebar: If you ever see stuff like that in Minneapolis, please call 311!
Next time I won't hesitate. I just remember the door opening and thinking I was in the wrooooooooong place and high tailed it out of there.

Elliot Altbaum
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby Elliot Altbaum » June 15th, 2014, 12:21 pm

Seems like ADUs could become legal again in all of Minneapolis. I like ADUs ability for creating incremental density. If these become popular in a neighborhood it could trigger later development in the old neighborhood commercial nodes.
http://www.startribune.com/business/212418161.html

Chava
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby Chava » June 15th, 2014, 4:19 pm

Ah yes. Lots of coach houses in Chicago.

twincitizen
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby twincitizen » June 16th, 2014, 11:17 am

What do you suppose this one is?
http://goo.gl/maps/W22ms

Despite the "walkway" from the main house to the living space above the garage, I can't imagine it can legally be rented out separately (under current or future rules).

Is this just a super garage with a "man cave"?

talindsay
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby talindsay » June 16th, 2014, 11:31 am

I don't know anything about that specific property, but keep in mind that *anything* can be permitted with a variance, if one can convince the planning board (or the city council), and once a variance is in place it can usually be grandfathered in. Carriage house style apartments have had some success in the variance process, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of those were being rented out, officially or unofficially.

RailBaronYarr
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby RailBaronYarr » June 16th, 2014, 1:02 pm

It's probably a home office or something. What's more interesting in this debate is the home between the garage and the alley - these are everywhere in our city and the only functional differences between them and an ADU are: 1)not within the street-fronting property, and 2) still have sidewalk frontage for a front door if they want. Point 1 is irrelevant to me as I don't know/care if property is contiguous as I'm walking by (or even living next door) without looking it up on Hennepin Cty's website. The second point is only relevant if alleyways become so congested with people leaving ADUs by foot/bike/car that they can't handle the traffic. I doubt that'd be the case given how many 4++ unit condo/apartments exist on smaller old parcels with an alley behind them.

mattaudio
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby mattaudio » June 18th, 2014, 7:45 am

Did anyone attend the Happy Hour about this last night? I wasn't able to, but I'd like an update!

twincitizen
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Re: Accessory Dwelling Units

Postby twincitizen » June 25th, 2014, 10:07 am

Some people from the "Forward Minneapolis" group are meeting on Sunday at the Central Library, but you probably already knew that.

I found this on the city's website, which is kind of a primer on the issue, for anyone that wants more info: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/cped/proje ... S1P-126877

"The City plans to engage the community on the provisions of the draft text amendment in summer 2014 and bring a draft forward for review by the City Planning Commission and City Council in fall 2014. CPED will be holding two community meetings in August to discuss the text amendment."

Tuesday, August 12, 2014
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
North Regional Library
1315 Lowry Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55411

Saturday, August 23, 2014
10:00 – 1:00 a.m.
Hosmer Library
347 East 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55408

So it sounds like this is really happening. No one should be surprised when there is strong resistance from certain wealthy single family neighborhoods.


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