Housing Laws That Leave Granny Out in the Cold

After panelists finished their presentations, someone in the audience pointed out that because of vocal opposition at public hearings, previous attempts had failed to amend county zoning ordinances to allow accessory dwellings.

Why do citizens oppose what seems to be a benign yet potentially effective method for providing affordable housing?

Allowing an accessory apartment or backyard cottage on a single lot doubles the lot's dwelling-unit density. Extrapolating to an entire subdivision, it means a neighborhood hypothetically could have 100 dwellings instead of 50, or 400 dwellings instead of 200.

In the minds of many property owners, this translates into more traffic, more competition for parking and more demand for public services. If tenants are students, opponents envision loud parties. Skeptics think that people who live in accessory apartments could alter the neighborhood's socioeconomic composition, and not necessarily for the better.

Plus, it's a pocketbook issue for some who fear that allowing accessory dwellings could hurt property values.

But this opposition is based on questionable assumptions, speculative perceptions and emotionally driven biases.

In assessing the impact of increased density, demographic characteristics and population numbers are what matter, not the dwelling-unit count. Decades ago, when mature neighborhoods were planned and built, it was assumed that each home would have four to six occupants, including two or three school-age children. Today, many of those homes house only two people.

Further, it's highly unlikely that an accessory dwelling would be added to every house in a neighborhood. Even if this occurred, the total population still could be less than originally contemplated.

As for traffic and parking, many of the people likely to occupy accessory dwellings drive infrequently. Some may not drive at all. Tenants are also unlikely to increase public school attendance, throw wild parties or cause property values to drop. In fact, it's far more likely that an accessory dwelling would increase a property's value.

In some other countries, accessory dwellings, sometimes known as granny flats, are widely accepted.

Talking about affordable-housing challenges is undeniably worthwhile. But Montgomery County needs to sponsor a different conference, one specifically addressing the obstacles to affordable housing in its zoning regulations.

Roger K. Lewis is a practicing architect and a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland.