BREWSTER – Town Meeting voters in Brewster approved an Accessory Dwelling Unit bylaw Monday night.
The goal of the zoning bylaw amendment is to provide more affordable housing options in town by allowing the separate, independent living space within or adjacent to a single family home.
“It adds to the supply of much needed one- and two-bedroom housing of which we have a dramatic shortage,” said Stefanie Coxe, a spokesperson for Smarter Cape Partnership. “[That shortage] affects, of course, interim prices.”
Accessory Dwelling Units also allow more seniors to age in place by providing extra income and having someone around the house.
The units do require rentals to be year-round, along with meeting space and owner occupancy requirements.
Brewster is one of several towns in the region to take up the Cape Cod Commission’s model bylaw.
“We are very excited to see that several more towns will be taking up the model bylaw over the course of the next couple of months and for spring town meeting,” Coxe said.
Coxe said the bylaw is not a silver bullet for solving Cape Cod’s affordable housing crisis.
“We do believe that five units here, ten units there can make a real difference, particular when you compare with how long and how much it costs to physically build these units,” she said. “This is a great environmentally friendly way, low-impact way to add to the supply of housing without eating up open space or without developing anything.”
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