Despite relaxed provisions, zero ADUs built in Weston

In an effort to help alleviate the Massachusetts housing crunch, Gov. Maura Healey in 2024 signed the Affordable Homes Act to promote more housing development around the state. One of the key goals of the comprehensive bill was to permit accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by right in single-family zoning districts.

Communities were required to update their zoning bylaws by February of this year, when the bill came into effect, and Weston was no different. Residents approved an amendment to zoning bylaws at the December 2024 Special Town Meeting.

The amended bylaw allows ADUs to be built by right in Weston’s single-family and multiple-dwelling districts, updating the town’s 2006 ADU bylaw, which required special permit approval.

Nearly one year since the approval of the new bylaw amendment, there have been no ADUs built in Weston. That is not a surprise to Town Planner Imaikalani Aiu and Planning Board Chair Leslie Glynn, who said the town was “already ahead of the curve” with its previous ADU bylaw. That previous provision also saw little use from residents, with 18 permits issued over the 18-year existence of the law.

“We like ADUs because they allow folks to figure it out on their own,” Glynn said. “I think it’s an important component in our housing portfolio.”

The Affordable Homes Act has generated at least 732 ADU permits and approvals throughout the state through Aug. 6, the one-year anniversary of Healey signing the law, according to a press release from the governor’s office. In total, the Healey-Driscoll Administration said more than 91,236 housing units have been built or are in development.

Weston is not unique in seeing few early adopters of the state’s new ADU regulations. In a state survey sent to building inspectors this summer, data show even larger communities reporting few, if any, ADU applications between Jan. 1 and June 30.

Waltham received three applications, Wellesley received one and Watertown, Sudbury and Natick all saw zero, according to data from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Excluding Boston, which received 63 applications, the municipality with the most applications was Plymouth, with 32.

What does the bylaw allow?

Weston’s ADU bylaw allows units up to 900 square feet to be built by right under the following conditions: the detached ADU must be located in the rear yard, have no exterior stairs, require no expansion of the septic system and have 200 square feet of available parking area.

If a resident wants to build an ADU that does not fall under the by-right conditions, then it would be subject to site plan approval.

While residents overwhelmingly approved these amendments, two provisions were rejected by the state attorney general’s office: the requirement that ADUs have a minimum lease of 12 months and the requirement that residences have a certificate of occupancy for four years in order to build an ADU by right. Under the original proposal, the bylaw had proposed requiring a special permit for homes with fewer than four years of occupancy.

“The state had some new wrinkles that we didn’t have in ours,” Glynn said, “and some wrinkles we’re still not happy with.”

The Attorney General’s Office cited Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 3 (commonly referred to as the Dover Amendment), which prevents zoning bylaws that “prohibit, unreasonably regulate or require a special permit” for educational or religious institutions and, as of Feb. 2, single ADUs.

“The town cannot prohibit the use by imposing a waiting period of four years before an ADU can be constructed,” Assistant Attorney General Kelli Gunagan wrote in the June approval of the bylaw. “In adopting Section 3, the Legislature determined that certain land uses are so important to the public good that the Legislature has found it necessary ‘to take away’ some measure of municipalities’ ‘power to limit the use of land’ within their borders.”

Glynn said the 12-month lease provision was intended to protect neighborhoods from homeowners building ADUs and then using short-term rental services, like Airbnb and Vrbo. She added the Planning Board may try a shorter minimum-lease provision in the spring, and Aiu noted Wellesley was able to implement a 30-day minimum lease into its ADU bylaw.

As for the four-year waiting period that was struck down, Aiu said it was intended to preserve existing homes by allowing ADUs to be built more quickly.

“The speculative market is overinflated; we wanted this to be a benefit for established residents, and hopefully a reason someone will keep an existing house,” Aiu said.

“The state has a good idea, but they don’t listen well to the different market fluctuations,” Glynn added. “Weston is unique, we know that, you buy anything here and it is gold … It’s turning us into a town that does not have financial diversity.”

Both Glynn and Aiu said they expect to see some folks take advantage of the ADU bylaw in the coming years. Aiu said several folks have approached the planning office with questions about ADUs, but with homeowner-driven projects, people usually “take their time.”