By Adam Swift
Ward 5 City Councilor Angela Guarino-Sawaya wants the city to take a closer look at its Accessory Dwelling Unit, or in-law apartment, ordinance.
Last year, the council approved a revised ADU ordinance in light of a housing bill signed into law by Governor Maura Healey.
However, Guarino-Sawaya said the new ADU ordinance in Revere has put an unfair burden on the city.
In a motion she filed last week, Guarino-Sawaya is asking the mayor and relevant city departments to provide recommendations for strengthening local structural, dimensional, and site design standards where permissible under state law given the rising number of ADU applications in Revere.
“Over the past year, since the state ADU law went into effect, the City of Revere has seen a significant increase in applications,” she said. “Prior to the ordinance change, there were only three ADU applications submitted to the city, and all three were denied.”
Since May of last year, there have been 58 applications with 54 approvals.
“That is a substantial change in a very short period of time, and I believe it is our responsibility as a council to review these impacts and what the impacts may look like long term in our neighborhoods,” said Guarino-Sawaya. “This motion is not about eliminating ADUs or preventing homeowners from improving their properties. I understand that these ADUs provide opportunities for multi-generational living, housing flexibility, and additional income for families who remain in our city.”
But, she said Revere is also a densely populated, fully built-out community with ongoing concerns regarding parking, flooding infrastructure, traffic, and overcrowding.
“When we see this many applications in such a short timeframe, I believe it is appropriate to pause and evaluate whether stronger guidelines or additional safeguards should be considered,” said Guarino-Sawaya.
Of the applications that have come into the city over the past year, she said 32 were in single-family homes, 17 were in two-family homes, and one was in a three-family home.
The majority of the applications, 42, were for basement conversions, and the average square footage of the ADUs in the permits was just under 800 square feet, Guarino-Sawaya said.
The Ward 5 councilor said she understands the state’s need for more housing, but said Revere needs to look at potentially stronger standards for the ADUs.
Ward 3 Councilor Anthony Cogliandro said the city should consider rolling back to its previous ADU ordinance that was on the books.
“I don’t like when the state dangles finances over us to get us to do things,” he said.
Cogliandro also stated that the state ADU guidelines allow for reasonable changes to the rules, and said he believed it was reasonable for the city to revert back to its original ordinance.
“When this first came up a year ago, I asked the city solicitor to give a legal opinion because I wanted us to be exempt from this state mandate,” said Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley. “I said that we have an ordinance on the books, it was working correctly, it was working as intended for extended families and things like that. The city solicitor said that we could not pursue exemption.”
At that point, Kelley said she voiced her concerns about the overreach of the state ordinance and was told that reasonable amendments could be made to the state ordinance.
“That being said, I support the motion wholeheartedly, I think this is absolutely something that we need to look at,” said Kelley. “However, I think that it deserves consistent application across the board, so I don’t think it should be limited just to the context of ADUs.”
Kelley said issues such as parking, drainage, and infrastructure strain are things that are issues with all residential apartment development.
“I would not only like to express my support for this motion, but I would like to offer a friendly amendment just to add that the appropriate departments examine these same concerns as they relate to large-scale apartment developments, particularly projects exceeding 30 units,” Kelley said.
Ward 4 Councillor Paul Argenzio said he agreed with the points raised by Guarino-Sawaya and Kelley, but noted that the council was told by the city solicitor and the planning director what the restrictions were on changes that could be made to the state ordinance.
“We did pass some reasonable restrictions and they were accepted by the state,” said Argenzio. “We can try again … we did this once, and the increase in ADUs that Councillor Sawaya speaks about, that was the intent of the state, so as far as they are concerned, this is a success.”