Westport Planning and Zoning Director Laurence Bradley today reminded residents that on Nov. 1, 2007, the Planning & Zoning Commission approved a zoning amendment which created a new permitted accessory use in residential zoning districts to allow for one affordable accessory apartment in single-family dwellings.
“The purpose of the new section is to provide an opportunity to increase Westport’s inventory of affordable housing units while also preserving the exterior appearance of single-family houses,” said Bradley. “Presently, the one allowed apartment is age-restricted.”
Affordable accessory apartments must be rented to those whose income does not exceed 80 percent of the state median income for family size, and the maximum rent to be charged cannot exceed 30 percent of the tenant’s income. These restrictions must be contained in a restrictive covenant which is placed on the land records for a period of at least 10 years.
In an effort to increase the town’s affordable housing inventory, town officials are asking property owners to voluntarily come forward with unapproved apartments and to comply with the new affordable accessory apartment zoning regulation.
A six-month amnesty period will begin on June 1. The Planning and Zoning Department staff will work with property owners to determine in which ways the apartment can be brought into compliance with the zoning regulations. Bradley said.
In addition, the fees for the Planning and Zoning Department approval will be waived during the amnesty period.
After the six-month amnesty period and beginning Dec. 1, enforcement action will be taken by the Planning and Zoning Department on all unapproved apartments, Bradley said.
Affordable accessory apartment maximum allowable income and rent to be charged:
Apartment Size Max. Income Max. Rent
One bedroom $49,260 $1,082
Two bedroom $59,112 $1,303
Three bedroom $68,307 $1,508
This is a good policy and not just for Westporters, everyone who helped make this happen should be commended.
I haven’t done this math since I graduated from college. $43,568 = $3631/mo gross. Take off 25% for taxes = $2723/mo take home. $1000 for rent, $300 for car, $100 for cable/internet/phone, $50 for cell phone, $100 for utilities. That leaves $1173/mo for food, student loans, and fun. How much is a typical loan payment? Did I forget anything else?
Can I rent out my kids’ rooms, or do these have to be fully separate apartments?
Have you done the math for a beginning Westport teacher who has graduated from a good school with the typical $90,000 plus debt load that many of our beginning teachers face? The starting teacher’s salary in Westport is $43,568. Assuming they can find apartments at the one bedroom price, they’ll end up with less than $1000 a month to finance car lease, computer, internet connection, cable TV, food, and living expenses. This is supposed to be affordable?
Mr. Liepolt,
These maximum rents are based on the state Affordable Housing guidelines under the 8-30g definition of Affordable Housing which use the STATE median income as its base. Any unit that qualifies under these AH guidelines gives the town credit to the 10% state target.
Using the Town’s definition of “Workforce Housing, ” which uses the Westport area median income, the maximum rents allowed would be significantly higher. Off the top of my head the Workforce Housing rents could be around 50% higher than what is shown above. And any unit that qualifies as Workforce Housing does NOT give the town any credit towards the state 10% 8-30g target.
As we discuss this issue I think it is very important for people to know that there is a very big difference between “Affordable Housing” and “Workforce Housing.” To simplify, Workforce Housing units could be around 50% more expensive than Affordable Housing units and Workforce Housing does nothing to help the town get to the 10% 8-30g target. Only Affordable Housing gets counted towards the 8-30g target.