The Waunakee Village Board approved the adoption of an ordinance amendment permitting the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in certain parts of the village.
The amendment, approved on May 6, now allows for homeowners to construct accessory structures or convert portions of their existing homes to serve as separate dwelling units in certain parts of the village.
Residents can read the amendment for themselves online in the agenda packet for the meeting. Though, several parts of Section 2 in the amendment were altered after board discussion on Monday.
Item ‘b’ was struck from the final language of the amendment, item ‘c’ was changed to remove “owner-occupied” and item ‘g’ was slightly changed to permit 900-square-foot spaces.
These alterations allow for slightly larger ADUs and permit property owners to inhabit a primary residence off of the lot where their ADU is located.
Following the village board’s approval, the amendment now allows the construction of ADUs by right for residentially zoned lots of Waunakee.
However, caveats such as Homeowners’ Associations covenants supersede the amendment for some areas.
Community Development Director Lauren Dietz expanded on which areas of Waunakee will be impacted by the change at Monday’s meeting. Dietz presented a map of the village that highlighted which single-family lots would could now house ADUs following the amendment approval.
She explained that only 28.7% of single-family parcels in the village are now eligible for ADU construction after factoring in stipulations from neighborhoods and the Waunakee/Westport Joint Planning Area.
It should be noted that neighborhood covenants do typically expire on set dates. Residents whose lots do not allow for ADUs now, may become eligible to construct them by right in the future.
In spite of the unexpectedly limited impact that the amendment would have on the village immediately, the board still voted 5-2 in favor of its adoption.
Village President Kristin Runge and Trustee Joe Zitzelsberger were the two dissenting votes.
Both of the elected officials cited the lack of support from the Waunakee and Westport Joint Plan Commission for their votes in opposition.
The Joint Plan Commission voted 5-1 against approval, hence the change not going into affect for the Joint Planning Area within village boundaries.
The Waunakee Plan Commission, split the vote of recommendation for approval of the amendment 3-3 (one member was absent).
President Runge said commission members did not feel they had enough time to review the proposal and make a recommendation. Both her and Trustee Zitzelsberger stated they would be voting against the amendment to stay in line with the will of the commission.
Meanwhile, a majority of village board members agreed on the benefits of the amendment and saw fit to adopt it with some minor changes.
Trustee Robert McPherson cited the Dane County housing crisis, and Waunakee’s role in fighting it, as a large reason for his support.
The recently released Dane County Regional Housing Strategy Action Plan recommends that the village creates 201 housing units annually to keep up with forecasted demand leading up to 2040.
At Monday’s meeting, McPherson voiced some frustration with the village being slow to address the housing shortage in recent years.
McPherson was the trustee who first brought the ADU proposal before the board at the end of 2023 and has worked with village staff to write the amendment since then.
He said that he supported the change due to the opportunity it offered the village to diversify its housing/renting stock and increase housing density without altering the community’s aesthetic.
As a part of the discussion, Trustees Sam Kaufmann and Tricia Braun gave examples of lots in the village that may already contain ADUs. The pair mentioned that their neighbors have not taken issue with these developments even in spite of their lack of compliance.
Trustee Kaufmann added that in speaking with constituents and community members, they supported the change by and large.
Trustee Nila Frye shared a similarly positive sentiment toward the amendment and what it represented as well.
“I want to say that I realize change is difficult... We need to do what we need to do so people will have housing in not only Waunakee but Dane County, the state and the nation. There’s a housing crisis right now,” Trustee Frye said.
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