Attributes of affordable dwelling units

[Denise Provost]

There has been speculation about some of these topics. Here's what Somerville's Zoning Ordinance says:

12.1.7 ADU Development Standards

1. a.
   Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this Ordinance, ADUs must be provided on-site, intermixed with the market rate units in the development that generated the requirement for affordable dwelling units. ADUs may not be overly concentrated on any single story of a building without the approval of the Director of Housing.
2. b.
   ADUs must be proportional to the corresponding market rate units with respect to tenure type (for-sale or rental), unit size, number of bedrooms, and size of rooms. The proportion of ADUs with two (2) or more bedrooms may exceed the proportion provided for the corresponding market rate units for each tenure type.
3. c.
   Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this Ordinance, any development with thirty (30) or more dwelling units must provide at least twenty percent (20%) of the ADUs with three (3) or more bedrooms. Any fractional number resulting from this calculation is rounded up to the next whole number and regarded as a whole unit.

   i.

   1. The Director of Housing shall establish quality standards for three (3) bedroom ADUs. Quality standards must include, but may not be limited to, minimum floor area and the inclusion of certain features such as the number of bathrooms and the existence of built-in closets.
   2. ii.
      The review boards shall require compliance to the quality standards for three (3) bedroom ADUs as a condition of discretionary or administrative permit approval.
   d.
4. Unit features including, but not limited to, finishes, appliances, and outdoor amenity spaces must be comparable to those provided in corresponding market-rate units, but may be functionally equivalent rather than identical provided that they are durable, of good quality, and consistent with contemporary standards for new housing with the approval of the Director of Housing.
5. e.
6. Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this Ordinance, ADUs must have the same access to amenities that are provided to the corresponding market-rate units including, but not limited to, laundry facilities, storage, fitness rooms, parking, and shared outdoor amenity spaces.
   
   
   f.
7. Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this Ordinance, real property providing ADUs and an on-site Commercial Parking Facility or Accessory Vehicle Parking use must provide at least twenty percent (20%) of the total parking spaces, rounded up to the next whole number, annually to all ADU households as a right of first refusal until each parking space is either rented or leased.

(Ord. 2024-15, 12/12/2024)

Effective on: 12/12/2024

[Colin McMillen]

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a mess because Somerville's ordinances, many of which pre-date the statewide law on ADUs (enacted 2024) are in some ways conflicting with that law. 

For example:

"ADUs must have the same access to amenities that are provided to the corresponding market-rate units including [...] parking"

Is contradicted by MGL 150 sections 7 & 8, as summarized on this page:

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/accessory-dwelling-units

"Municipalities cannot: require any parking for an ADU located within 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station"

Ideally the City would review the ADU ordinances to make sure they fully comply with the latest MGL. (Specifically, ADUs within 0.5 miles of a public transit station should *not* need the same access to parking amenities as the corresponding market-rate units in those areas.)

Colin

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[Meredith Porter]

Hi Colin and everyone, there is no contradiction here, though there is confusion. In the Somerville Zoning Ordinance (SZO), ADU is the abbreviation for Affordable Dwelling Unit (see below). The statewide law you referenced is with regard to a whole different meaning of ADU: Accessory Dwelling Unit.

Furthermore, the section of the SZO cited by Denise does not require that Affordable Dwelling Units have parking. It requires that affordable units not be “second-rate” as compared with market rate units in a building. If market rate units have access to parking, then affordable units must too. It’s only fair.

In addition to that, the SZO does not require that any motor vehicle parking be provided, and for most zoning districts, it sets a maximum on the amount of parking that may be provided when within a Transit Area.

Best regards,

Meredith Porter (“Merit,” he/him)

2.1 GLOSSARY

2.1.1 General

...

Affordable Dwelling Unit

A dwelling unit sold, leased, or rented at a price affordable to a specific household income specified by this Ordinance or other Federal, State, or local affordable housing program. Affordable dwelling unit is abbreviated as ADU. (See Article 12)

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[Denise Provost]

Thank you for your clarification, Meredith.

I probably should have explained the acronym. It is confusing that ADU has a different meaning in Somerville than elsewhere.

D

[Mieke Citroen]

I agree that acronyms are confusing, and I will again (as I often do, not just int hthis space) ask that people *always* use the full name in every email. Even if it is just the first time you meantion it or in a footnote at the bottom, i don't care. Just explain them please. 

--Mieke

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[Colin McMillen]

Whoops, my bad! Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the explanation.

[David Booth]

On 2/7/26 13:43, 'Denise Provost' via Davis Square Neighborhood Council
wrote:

> Here's what Somerville's Zoning Ordinance says:

> . . .
> 4. [Affordable] Unit features including, but not limited

> to, finishes, appliances, and outdoor amenity spaces must be
> comparable to those provided in corresponding market-rate units,

> . . .
> 6. Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this Ordinance,

> ADUs must have the same access to amenities that are provided to
> the corresponding market-rate units including, but not limited to,
> laundry facilities, storage, fitness rooms, parking, and shared
> outdoor amenity spaces.

Interesting. This means that these so-called Affordable Dwelling
Units (ADUs) *cannot* be "naturally affordable". (By "naturally
affordable" I mean less expensive to buy or rent under market
conditions, i.e., without pricing limits.) The zoning ordinance
*forces* them to be virtually as expensive to build as market-rate
units. That's a problem because that extra cost is pushed onto
the developer, which disincentivizes new housing development.
Two ways this problem might be addressed:

- Change the zoning to allow the creation of more naturally
affordable units -- smaller, fewer bathrooms, in-building laundry
instead of in-unit laundry, etc.

- Impose additional tax on the purchase of more expensive homes,
to subsidize construction of ADUs.

Thanks,
David Booth

[Ashish Shrestha]

David, the latter is what we currently do.  The 20% Affordable Housing requirements effectively taxes new constructions by charging the developers the difference between market and affordable price, and pays it to the renters as a subsidy.

Not passing judgement either way, just offering a different way to see the 20% affordable housing requirement as a tax.