Jeremy Samuelson, the East Hampton Town planning director, updated the town board on Tuesday as it moves forward on adopting new language in the town code to guide the scope and construction of accessory dwelling units, as part of its All Hands On affordable housing push.
To entice homeowners into building accessory dwelling units, one proposed change would set the maximum monthly rental at 130 percent of the fair market rent for existing housing, as established by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is now set at 110 percent.
The proposed changes would double the number of affordable housing accessory apartment permits from 20 to 40 in each of the five school districts in the Town of East Hampton. No district has hit 20, let alone 40, and the hope is that incentives discussed by Mr. Samuelson, such as the enhanced rent that could be charged, among others, might motivate homeowners to construct such units. Only 48 of the 100 available permits have been issued so far, he said.
To encourage the construction of detached units, the town is considering lowering the square-footage threshold on properties from the current 30,000 square feet to 20,000.
After much previous debate over a proposal that would have allowed homeowners to build detached units of up to 900 square feet instead of the current 600-square-foot limit, that language has reverted back to 600 “based on your deliberations and feedback from the public,” Mr. Samuelson said.
Also proposed is a lifting of restrictions on the construction of affordable accessory apartments in areas that are within a harbor protection overlay district, conditioned on their having low-nitrogen sanitary systems, or in an affordable housing overlay district.
The proposal removes language that says “the affordable dwelling unit will only be used for the year-round occupancy of an East Hampton Town resident,” and it strikes language that forbids more than two people from living inside such an apartment, while raising the maximum number of bedrooms from one to two. Among other reasons for that change: What happens if a married couple has a child?
The aforementioned 600-square-foot limit for detached units, Councilman David Lys said, would be a pretty tight space for a two-bedroom apartment. He had previously signaled support for the 900-square-foot cap. “Could we revisit this in a couple of years?”
Yes, was the answer from Councilwoman Sylvia Overby and Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, neither of whom is seeking re-election this year.
Mr. Van Scoyoc went on to observe that any changes to town housing policy may have unforeseen impacts on overall density. That’s not a significant issue under these proposed incremental changes, he said, but may be an issue in the future as the board considers other pathways to enhancing housing affordability.
The board will pick up the discussion at its work session on Tuesday. A public hearing on the matter was set for next Thursday.
