August 23, 2019
T he C olumbia P ress
4
Housing: City thinks outside the single-family box
Continued from Page 1
Planning Commission chair-
man.
Reducing lot sizes and re-
ducing the square footage
of homes are two options.
Allowing a second, or acces-
sory, dwelling unit on a stan-
dard lot or attached to the
main home is another option.
“I am a firm believer in this
type of housing,” Cronin said.
“But it’s not for everyone.”
Commissioner
Christine
Bridgens was concerned that
reducing lot sizes could re-
duce the quality of life in
some neighborhoods.
“I understand we need
change. We need housing,”
she said. “But we need to be
very careful about increasing
the density and what that cre-
ates.”
A public hearing before
the Planning Commission
on the proposed housing
code amendments was ten-
An example of
courtyard apart-
ments, which
have a lower
density than
many apartment
complexes and
include a central
meeting place or
green courtyard.
Courtesy City of
Warrenton
tatively set for Sept. 12. The
public is urged to attend
and comment.
A summary of the proposed
changes:
• Adding accessory dwelling
units, or secondary housing
units on the same lot as a sin-
gle-family home. These typi-
cally are smaller than the pri-
mary dwelling and can come
in three forms: a detached
structure, an attached addi-
tion, or a conversion of in-
ternal living space within the
primary dwelling.
• Tiny homes, or freestand-
ing site-built homes of 200
to 600 square feet, recent-
ly were added to the hous-
ing code. The city wants to
know whether residents have
concerns that might require
placing some restrictions on
tiny homes.
• Allowing cottage clusters,
which are small homes with
a shared open space, and
courtyard apartments, which
are low-density rental units
oriented around a common
courtyard, in medium-densi-
ty residential zones.
• Allowing duplexes in the
intermediate-density zone,
which would allow them to
occupy the same minimum
size of lot as single-family
homes.
• Allowing triplexes and
fourplexes in medium-den-
sity zones, where duplexes
and townhomes already are
allowed.
Accessory dwelling units can be
converted spaces such as attics
or basements, additions to the
main house or a separate unit
on the same lot.