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Durango unveils ADU enforcement proposal

Incentives for those who voluntarily register

City officials presented a plan to oversee accessory dwelling units and crack down on illegal units to Durango city councilors Tuesday.

Community Development Director Greg Hoch said staff presented the ADU issue to the council last September. An ADU is an apartment in an owner-occupied single-family home or a lot. It is either attached to the principal residence or in a separate structure on the same property. Only existing, unpermitted accessory dwellings were discussed, not new units.

The city would give the owner of an unpermitted accessory dwelling a five-month grace period, from August 1 to Dec. 31, to register with the city, get a limited-use permit and pay any mandatory fees. Applicants could get certain incentives for voluntarily registering, including no ticket for the illegal unit and certain variances. That means owners could get some requirements waived, such as lot size, unit size and parking requirements. The city may also allow existing utilities to remain connected to the primary residence.

“This gives us some time to get the new code in place,” Planning Manager Nicol Killian said. “The proactive systematic enforcement phase starts Jan. 1, 2015.”

Owners who take advantage of voluntary registration also could get a payment plan for the fees. The fees are $550 for a limited-use permit, $1,923 for the major street impact fee, a $300 park fee and a $945 school fee. The water plant investment fee is $5,582 or $2,791 if the unit is attached for less than 600 square feet. The sewer-plant investment fee is $1,520, or $830 if it’s attached.

“That’s a big chunk of money for me to come up with,” Durango Mayor Sweetie Marbury said. “I understand the fees, don’t get me wrong, but I’m very supportive of a payment plan that doesn’t just kill the guy who lives there and rents out the ADU.”

City Manager Ron LeBlanc said he wants to meet with some banks to discuss the payment-plan issue.

“It’s really not the city’s role to be a collections agency and pay over time,” he said. “That would overly burden the finance department.”

In the voluntary process, the accessory dwellings will be classified into groups. The units are illegal outside of the downtown neighborhood and along West Second and Third avenues and East Second Avenue north of the Durango Recreation Center.

Other categories include ADUs built downtown and along West Second and Third avenues and part of East Second Avenue before 1941 and before 1948 in East Animas City. Owners of these old units must be able to prove when they were built. Owners must make basic life or safety improvements, but they don’t need a permit, nor do they have to meet ADU requirements, such as unit or lot size, parking, owner occupancy or fee requirements.

Owners of unpermitted units that were built between 1941 and 1989 downtown and along West Second and East Second Avenue north of the Durango Recreation Center must register, get a permit and fix any unacceptable life or safety violations. They also have to pay water and sewer plant investment fees.

Units built after 1989 in the downtown neighborhood and along West Second and Third avenues and part of East Second Avenue must register, get a permit and pay all the fees. ADUs that don’t meet minimum lot size for that zoning district can’t be a dwelling unit.

City staff also will do a life and safety inspection, and unacceptable violations must be fixed within 30 days or less, depending on the severity, or people can’t live there. Unacceptable violations include a lack of smoke alarms, garage doors opening directly into sleeping rooms and ventless heaters used for primary heat.

A public hearing is scheduled for July 23.

smueller@durangoherald.com

Oct 7, 2014
City eases rules for extra units
Sep 16, 2014
City starts registering ADUs


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