SUNDERLAND — The Planning Board discussed a proposed bylaw amendment this week to bring the town’s accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, bylaw into compliance with state law, while providing a little extra leniency in hopes of increasing grant eligibility.
If passed by Town Meeting voters, the bylaw amendment would serve as the first alteration to the town’s zoning bylaws since a motion to regulate ADUs failed to pass by a majority vote at the 2019 Annual Town Meeting.
In 2024, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act into law — a move that made the construction of ADUs, also known as “in-law apartments,” up to 900 square feet legal by right in single-family residential zones throughout the state.
The proposed zoning bylaw amendment, according to Planning Board Chair Dana Roscoe, seeks to bring the town’s bylaws into compliance with the state law by removing special permit requirements on ADU construction, and also make maximum ADU ground area requirements slightly more lenient than what is required by state law.
“The state law says you don’t need a special permit. So what we’re trying to do is eliminate the confusion — you still, in the town of Sunderland, need a special permit for any [ADU] exceeding 900 square feet. If you construct something smaller than 900 square feet, you are permitted, by right, just with a building permit from the building inspector,” Roscoe explained. “The only alteration that you’re going to find is the state law requires 900 square feet is allowed by right. The Planning Board is suggesting that we expand that to 950 square feet only because it makes us eligible for another $650,000 in grant funding.”
Planning Board members explained that by increasing the town’s cap on ground area for by-right ADUs by 50 square feet, it would make Sunderland eligible for state grant funding under the Housing Choice Grant Program.
“It’s a good pot of money,” member Doug Fulton added. “There’s a good likelihood [that the town can qualify for grants] if we change it to 950 [square feet].”
Fulton also noted that the town will not allow the by-right use of ADUs as short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs — a restriction that the town can make legally, in accordance with the Affordable Homes Act.
“There are registration requirements for short-term rentals that I believe are under state law, but we have chosen, for the time being, not to insert ourselves into that,” Fulton said. “You can restrict short-term rentals on your ADUs and we did. The ADU statute permits local zoning boards or planning boards to restrict short-term rentals.”
One resident in attendance at Tuesday’s public hearing requested that the Planning Board include a minimum ADU ground area in the bylaw to prevent ADU owners from housing people in cramped or inhumane environments, particularly in an attached ADU, or an ADU built inside of a principal dwelling. However, Roscoe said ensuring minimum space standards would be the responsibility of the Board of Health, rather than the Planning Board. The board responded similarly to concerns that those constructing ADUs may not adhere to state and municipal regulations for septic systems.
“If you construct something smaller than 900 square feet, you are permitted, by right, just with a building permit from the building inspector. The Planning Board does not get involved, the Zoning Board [of Appeals] does not get involved,” Roscoe said. “It’s between you, the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission if there are wetlands, and the building inspector. We are just trying to clean up this mess … and not overreach or overextend.”