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IN 5 SHORT YEARS, CAPE COD HAS LOST 3,000 YEAR-ROUND HOUSING UNITS.
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OUR COMMUNITY IS CHANGING FAST. WE NEED TO TAKE
ACTION NOW TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT CAPE COD.
We need to create more year-round housing to meet our needs as a community
About the Initiative
We can create more year-round housing now.
The best way to do that is with a better Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) bylaw.
Have you tried to find a year-round rental recently? We have. It's prohibitively expensive - if you can even find one at all. We need more year-round housing inventory and we need it now. Our middle class is being pushed off Cape Cod. We can blame tourists, second home owners, or the economy. Or we stop the blame game and take action.
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We need to allow more year-round housing in our zoning bylaws. Modifying towns' Accessory Dwelling Unit by-laws - or better known as in-law suites, garage apartments, or carriage houses - will increase the supply of available units without developing more land, adding density, costing taxpayer dollars, or ruining the character of our community. Towns need to create better accessory dwelling bylaws that will create more year-round housing. ADUs are nitrogen (wastewater) neutral and protect open space by better utilizing available land.
ABOUT ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
YEAR ROUND OPPORTUNITIES ARE SCARCE
In the last 5 years, Cape Cod has lost 3,000 year-round housing units - that's 3,000 less opportunities for families to find already scarce housing on Cape Cod. And there's less available land to build more housing on. That's why we need to find environmentally-friendly ways to increase the stock of housing - and ADUs are one way.
WHAT IS AN ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT?
An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is more commonly referred to as an in-law suite, a garage apartment, or a carriage house. These units are part of the fabric of how Cape Cod was developed, but over time it's become more difficult to build and rent an ADU than a to build a similar addition and rent the home seasonally.
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ADUs PROTECT THE COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORS
The model bylaw drafted by the Cape Cod Commission ensures homeowners can’t build anything more than they are allowed to today and must comply with existing zoning, setback, lot coverage, conservation, health, and historical requirements. And there are size limitations, guaranteeing neighborhoods remain single-family. Finally, ADUs are prohibited from being rented on a short-term basis.
ADU BYLAWS ARE NITROGEN
NEUTRAL
Don't be scared by demonizing talk by non-professionals. ADUs are nitrogen neutral as the proposed bylaw changes do not allow the creation of any additional bedrooms than allowed under existing law & wastewater regulations; they just allow for a better use of our existing housing stock, which makes this bylaw environmentally friendly.