Late last year, community leaders in Southeast Seattle recommended detached accessory dwelling units (detached ADUs) as a way to increase affordable housing options and to help keep existing residents in their neighborhoods. At the Mayor’s direction, DPD drafted proposed legislation to allow detached ADUs in single family zones in Southeast Seattle as part of his Southeast Seattle Action Agenda.

City Council will hold a public hearing to take comments on the proposal. The hearing will be held:

June 27, 2006, 5:30 p.m.
New Holly Gathering Hall
7054 32nd Ave. South
Seattle, WA 98118

A detached ADU is a small living space permitted on the same lot as a single family house, but physically separate from it. Seattle currently allows ADUs on any single family lot, as long as they are attached to or inside a single family residence. The detached ADU allows the dwelling unit on the site to be located in a detached building on the site, such as above a garage, providing a new housing choice for Seattle residents while minimizing impacts on existing neighborhoods.

The proposal will not increase the amount of area that can be built on a single family lot, lot coverage limits will continue to apply, and it includes provisions to help ensure that detached ADUs are appropriate for the size of the lots on which they are constructed.

While neighborhoods throughout Southeast Seattle, including Beacon Hill, were largely supportive of the proposal in early outreach efforts, lots within or partially within the Shoreline District will not be eligible for detached ADUs.

Included with the Mayor’s proposal is a new DPD Director’s Report describing the proposal and code amendments, both of which have been posted on DPD’s Housing Choices website.