Kathleen Schatzberg
ADUs will not solve all our housing problems, but they move us in the right direction.
ADUs – Accessory Dwelling Units, and zoning bylaws that allow them – have become important in debates about housing on Cape Cod. This is a housing strategy that was once known as a “mother-in-law apartment.” Families would remodel a portion of their home, add a small kitchen and perhaps a separate entrance, so that a parent, now widowed, could live in the apartment in their children’s subdivided home, with multi-generational benefits to all.
Eight Cape Cod towns have already adopted zoning bylaws to allow ADUs, often with very specific restrictions, as a strategy for increasing our stock of affordable housing. They offer numerous other benefits as well. But first, some background.