(Photo/Dakota Antelman)
HUDSON – An article involving accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and zoning update to reflect the state’s Affordable Homes Act was approved by Town Meeting on Nov. 18.
Voters approved Article 9 regarding ADUs, but not before two amendments were proposed.
The update was intended to have Hudson comply with the statute, requiring municipalities to allow ADUs by right in a single-family zoning district. It also prohibits a municipality from requiring a discretionary zoning approval, or a special permit, for an ADU.
“What ‘by right’ means is that you don’t need to go and get a discretionary permit. You just need a building permit,” Planning and Community Development Director Kristina Johnson said.
At a Sept. 23 Select Board meeting, she said that an ADU is not a rental unit and it is usually used to accommodate a family member. She clarified at Town Meeting that an ADU can be located within a primary residence, such as in a basement, or be a newly constructed addition or detached, like a cottage.
An ADU’s maximum size cannot be larger than 900 square feet, as it is defined by state statute.
A law for ADUs has “been on the books since 2007” in Hudson, but now the process would only require a building permit with the Building Department.
“All of the regulations relative to the Board of Health, any type of code issue, fire code, building code [and] ADA still apply,” said Johnson.
The article as passed prohibited the use of ADUs as short-term rentals. However, resident Brian White proposed an amendment, which was later defeated, to delete a section that contained that language prohibiting short-term rentals, saying he wanted to see if short-term rentals were something “that Town Meeting wants.”
Zoning Board of Appeals member Darja Nevits spoke against the amendment. She said the goal of the article was to give people the opportunity to make space for family members.
“The idea of allowing short-term rentals, to me, is just all against what the whole ADUs have always stood for,” she said.
White did successfully propose an amendment to strike the language “one-half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling” and “whichever is smaller” in a section of the bylaws regarding the size of ADUs.
White said he wanted to simplify the language as the article impacted him. He is planning on building an ADU for family members and, with the wording as it was, he said it would not be possible for him or any other Hudson resident to build one to the maximum limit of 900 square feet.
Town Meeting approves license for Hudson Hives
Article 10 was a vote to amend the protective zoning bylaws by updating the official zoning map, while Article 11 was a vote to amend the zoning bylaws by updating the section numbers of the town’s zoning districts. Both were housekeeping articles that passed.
Article 8 was a vote to authorize the Select Board to petition the Massachusetts General Court to adopt legislation allowing the town to grant an additional license for the sale of wine and malt beverages to Hudson Hives, located at 45 Main St.
Owners Stephen and Jen Burney would like to specifically sell mead, a malt liquor, at their business, as they stated at the Aug. 19 Select Board meeting. At that meeting, she noted “mead is the oldest alcohol beverage” and is made with mead, yeast and water with fruits and spices often added into the mix.
However, there are a fixed number of liquor licenses in Hudson, and they had to petition the Select Board to put a warrant article on the Town Meeting warrant to approve the license. The intent was to only sell mead and not compete with the liquor stores in town.
It passed unanimously at Town Meeting. Now that the petition passed, the next step for the Burneys is to work with Representative Kate Hogan to get the license approved.
